My Brother's Keeper
by ChatterChick
Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.
1. The Second Child

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N: I thought I'd write this for fun. It's my take on Harry-has-a-sister and I hope I can bring some life into a tired trope. He's still Boy-Who-Lived in this. The alternative events **including what happened to Lily and why James is alive** will be eventually revealed. I intend this to be similar to the Harry Potter series where you learn a little more about that night each year. So read, please enjoy and maybe review and let me know what you think! Feedback is hugely appreciated as are all my readers.

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1: The Second Child<strong> _

"Where Mummy?" Harry asked. It wasn't the first time he asked for his parents.

Lily had gone into labour several hours ago. Sirius had been called in to entertain Harry in the sitting room while Lily and James were preoccupied in the bedroom. James had put muffler charms around the bedroom so Harry wouldn't be upset by the noises, so Sirius had no idea what was going on upstairs. He wondered if Lily was done yet, wondered if everything was fine with her and the baby.

With the Potters still sequestered away from the world, Lily hadn't even been able to go see a proper healer for a check-up and the birth would have to be at the Potters' home.

At this point, James had finished half of his healer training and was able to assist the birth himself. Harry had been born at a muggle hospital under a false identity. Becoming a father for the first time had been nerve-wrecking enough for James without leaving his family open and exposed during a war and leaving his wife and child to muggle medicine.

"Daddy's helping Mummy take the baby out of her belly," Sirius tried to explain. Lily's growing stomach and the baby inside had fascinated Harry the past few months. He remembered Harry's delight when he would awkwardly pat Lily's stomach and be rewarded with a kick or response from the baby. "When they're done, you'll get your new brother or sister."

"They little like me?" Harry asked. Sirius ruffled the messy mop of Potter hair. This was the first time Harry would get to meet another child. He was glad Harry would get to have some normalcy and a playmate as he grew older.

"Even littler! Want to make a bet, Harry?" Sirius asked the toddler. "We'll have biscuits for supper if you can guess if you're getting a brother or sister."

Harry had accumulated an impressive amount of lost bets against Sirius for a boy not yet two. Although Sirius was quick to forgive Harry's losses and give him the promised prize anyway.

"I get naming rights for your first child if you lose. What do you say, Harry? Brother or sister?"

Harry titled his head in thought. "Brother!"

Sirius chuckled. He had been hoping for a boy too.

The door upstairs opened and Sirius' ears perked up as he heard the soft murmurs of James' voice. A tenseness that he hadn't been aware of subsided. James sounded happy, everything must have gone okay. He could hear the heavy footsteps on the old, wooden stairs and then the muted footsteps on the carpet. Suddenly James was standing in front of him with a bundle of blue blankets, a wide grin across his face. Sirius felt his own lips pull back into a smile at his friend's happiness.

"A girl," James proudly informed them. "She's beautiful, looks just like her Mummy."

"And Lily?"

"She's fine, just resting for now."

"Let me see," Harry pleaded as he pulled James' trouser leg. "Let me see!"

"A little sister for Harry," James knelt down so Harry could inspect this new member of the family. Harry seemed curious at first; pulling the blue blanket back to get a good look at her wrinkled, pink face. "What do you think?"

"Don't want sister," Harry announced. He looked up at the adults around him. "She too little."

He seemed doubtful of his new sister's ability to be much use as a playmate. The next few weeks would only reconfirm his initial misgivings, and eventually lead to resentment as the new sister received extra attention and taxed their energies.

"She'll get bigger, just like her brother did."

Harry protested, as if they were trying to deceive him."Was not that little!"

"Yes you were," James laughed. "How else would you have fit inside Mummy's belly?"

Sirius ruffled Harry's hair since James' arms were full with the baby. Cautiously, James stood up again, cuddling his new daughter into his chest. James' entire being beamed with a new-father glow. He seemed determine to commit every last detail of his new child to memory. He stared at her, transfixed at the sight and it appeared that the feeling was mutual as the baby stared back at him.

"Would you like to hold her?" James offered, glancing up at Sirius.

Sirius mutely nodded, holding his arms out and listening as James instructed him how to hold a newborn. There was very little reaction at the change of person, but Sirius mused that must have been a good thing. Harry screamed bloody murder when Lily had first given him to Sirius.

"Why hello there," Sirius murmured. The baby's eyes starred unabashedly up at him now. She had the traditional blue eyes of a newborn and honestly Sirius wouldn't have been able to tell her apart from any other. She was pretty, he decided, James' girl could only be beautiful. "Have you decided on a name?"

With his hands free, James tested her reflexes, poking her hands and watching as they curled around his finger. "Sophie Lily Potter."

xXxXx

"I think that's everything," James said as he consulted her school list one last time. "Sophie?"

Sophie wasn't paying attention as she eyed the crimson red and gold ink wells. Her father pulled out a bottle of jet black ink and another of midnight blue and put them in her basket along with her new eagle quills and rolls of parchment.

"You may want to wait until you're sorted before buying all Gryffindor colours." James teased her.

Her Uncle Sirius had the opposite opinion as he reappeared, carrying a stack of red and gold bounded notebooks. "I think she has enough supplies to last until third year," Sirius joked as he added them to her basket. "Does Harry need anything?"

Her father shook his head. "I gave him some gold and sent him with Ron and Hermione to pick up anything he's missing."

Sophie laughed. "He's probably spent it all at Quality Quidditch Supplies then. Said something earlier about needing new gloves – "

Another bottle of black ink and extra rolls of parchment were added to Sophie's basket for her brother.

"While you finish up here, I need Sophie's opinion on another purchase."

"Fine, fine," James said as he took Sophie's basket. "I'll meet you two at the Leaky for supper then?"

Sophie allowed herself to be pulled away from Amanuensis Quills, wondering what Sirius was up to now. There was always something thrilling about shopping with him. Sirius had no idea how to budget and had no regard for James' rules. Last time, he had taken her down Knockturn Alley to buy aconite at Mr Mulpepper's since Slug and Jiggey didn't carry any. Her father would have _never_ allowed her to wander around such a place. Sirius didn't seem to mind, said Sophie was safe enough as long as she stuck close to him. They had lunch at Coffin Café and spent the afternoon trying to guess what the dark artefacts in the shop windows did.

"Now, how about I get you a gift for that acceptance letter," Sirius said as they parted ways with James. "I let Harry pick out an owl for his, would you want a pet or – "

"Really?" She asked, eagerly. "And you asked Dad?"

Sirius' eyebrows lifted innocently. "A pet it is!"

Sophie was giddy with excitement as Sirius led them towards Magical Menagerie. She had wanted her own pet since she was young. Her father always maintained that they already had the family owl, but then Sirius had gotten Harry an owl for Hogwarts and Sophie went green with jealousy before redoubling her efforts. With a great sweeping bow, Sirius held the door open for her.

"After you," he gallantly offered.

"Thank you," Sophie giggled as she attempted to give a mock curtsy in return.

"Now, were you thinking an owl like your brother?" Sirius asked as he inspected the owls in stock. A Great Horned Owl twisted his head around to stare back at Sirius. "There's always Eeylops Owl Emporium if you can't find one here."

An owl would be useful, and they were such beautiful creatures. Between her brother's and her father's owls, she didn't think she really needed one. She took a sideways glance at her godfather, wondering what he'd say. Sirius seemed more of a dog person to her, but what she really wanted was a cat.

"What about a cat?"

He pulled a face and gave a long suffering sigh. "I don't know where James went wrong with you."

"Dad said Mum had a cat when she went to Hogwarts."

James always said she reminded him of her mum. It made her happy to have so much in common with the woman she could barely remember. Lily had died when she was only four and she had so few memories of her. Sometimes, she purposely did things she knew her mum did just to have that connection.

"She did, bloody awful thing it was too. Are you sure you want one?" Sirius gave her a playful push towards the back of the store, where the cats were kept. A store clerk hurried over to them.

"This is the girls' room," the store clerk was saying as he let them into a room full of cats. "They've all been fixed."

Sophie smiled and started petting some of the cats who approached her, mewing for attention. She liked a small calico that purred as she leaned into Sophie's hand. She was so tiny and adorable. Sophie stood up, wandering around the room and looking at the other cats.

A large, short-haired grey cat leapt from the windowsill, claws extended, at Sophie's throat. She caught the cat midair, holding it with both hands. Sophie and the cat stared each other down for a moment. The cat's large, yellow eyes almost glaring at her.

Sirius let out a great barking laugh. "I like her!"

"That would be Artemis," the clerk said with a strained smile. "I think he likes you."

"You named a male, fixed cat after a goddess of fertility?" Sirius asked. He grinned, clearly fond of the devil already. "What do you think, Sophie?"

He seemed friendly now that he wasn't lunched midair. But Sophie still didn't trust Artemis.

"Artemis would probably do well at Hogwarts," the clerk started singing the cat's praises when he realized Sirius seemed interested in him. "I imagine that's where your daughter is going?"

People regularly assumed that Sirius was her father when the two of them were out. Sophie's paternal grandmother, Dorea Potter, was Sirius' great-aunt and had all the typical Black looks. Some of these, like the dark coloured hair, were passed on to James, and then onto her and Harry.

Sirius waved off the mistake. "Yes, she's going to Hogwarts."

The clerk wasn't really listening. "He's an outdoor cat so you'll have to let him out or he'll try to escape. But he comes right back. He's a bit of a scrapper, he kept picking fights and getting beat up by the other male cats. Very independent, but he seems keen for you. Good little hunter, whenever he sneaks out, he brings me back a dead rat."

Sophie made a face at the thought of being brought home a dead rat by her pet. Sirius, on the other hand, seemed delighted at the prospect of Artemis killing rats.

"Perfect," Sirius smiled. "We'll take him."

"You'll take him?!"

"We'll take him?!" Sophie and the clerk both echoed, staring at Sirius. She looked down at Artemis in surprise. Artemis, for his part, seemed content with the idea of going to Hogwarts with Sophie. He had settled into Sophie's arms and allowed her to pet his back.

The relieved clerk showed them around the store, occasionally handing Sirius items needed for a cat.

Sirius was rather merry as they walked back to the Leaky, whistling the tune of a popular Rampaging Hippogriff song. As suspected, Sirius hadn't consulted James about getting Sophie a cat until they had returned to the Leaky Cauldron with Artemis in hand. James sighed upon seeing them. "You could have given me some warning. Sophie, why don't you go wash up before supper?"

Sophie nodded, rushing upstairs to bring Artemis to the room she was sharing with her brother.

Harry was nowhere to be found, but Sophie was hardly surprised. He was inseparable from his two best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, and was probably in one of their rooms. She washed up, and let Artemis out of his carrier to settle into their temporary home before joining the rest in the pub downstairs.

Supper turned out to be a rather chaotic affair.

Ron had written that his family would be staying at the Leaky Cauldron the last few days of the holidays to pick up school supplies and had invited Harry to go with them. Her dad had decided that they'd all join as they needed to pick up a few last minute things anyway.

So the Potters joined the Weasleys and the Grangers for supper at the Leaky. The hostess had to help them push four tables together for everyone to fit comfortably. Hermione's parents seemed a bit perplexed as they tried to engage in the conversation around them. None of the adults really knew how to speak with them. James, Sirius and Mr and Mrs Weasley were all pure-bloods and had no knowledge of the muggle world. James told the one story he had about the time he attended his sister-in-law's muggle wedding. Sophie had to hide a smile; she had heard the story many times and knew her dad had filtered most of it out.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were all clustered together, with Ron's twin brothers joining in on their conversation. Sophie was left to try to force conversation with Ginny. Despite Ron's complaints that Ginny normally never shut up, the older girl barely spoke a word. Sophie soon gave up and joined Sirius instead.

Sophie carefully packed all her purchases into her trunk later that evening. She must have packed and repacked several times over the summer, excited at the prospect of finally going to Hogwarts. Of course, within days she'd remember she had packed something she wanted to use or clothing she still wanted to wear and the contents of the trunk would end up everywhere. Artemis' ears perked up as the doorknob twisted. He leapt off her bed and dashed between Harry's legs before Harry could react.

"Sorry! I forgot you had him."

"It's okay," Sophie sighed. She had to chase him earlier for the same reason.

Sophie ran out into the corridor, looking for her cat. "Artemis?" she whispered. "Here kitty."

Maybe she should just let him wander, the shop clerk said he'd come back in the morning anyway. Sophie made a face; she really hoped he didn't bring her a prize.

Sophie was halfway down the stairs when she heard a pair of hushed voices in the hallway downstairs. She froze in her tracks when she noticed one of them was Sirius. Not wanting to be caught out of bed, she paused in her steps, ducking to hide behind the banisters in the dark stairwell.

"James," she overheard Sirius. He sounded so hesitant, so forlorn. Whatever he was telling her Dad, it looked to be bad news. "The ministry's making budget cuts in the departments, I'm so sorry – they're going to close the Peter Pettigrew case."

"No!" Sophie had rarely heard her dad so angry. His fist hit the wall and Sophie jumped in surprise. "Damnit."

"It's been seven years." Sirius whispered. "I haven't had any leads since he disappeared. Amelia said Fudge wants to close all the old death eater files and declare it wrapped up to the public."

Sophie was a bit surprised at the language James used to describe the ministry. Sirius laughed darkly, as if in agreement. She felt a chill go up her spine at the sound.

"Would it be too much to hope he died in a sewer?" Sophie shivered at the hatred in her dad's voice. She wondered just who Peter Pettigrew was and what he had done. Sirius was an auror who spent most of his time catching dark wizards and tracking down old death eaters. If he was after Pettigrew, than he must have done something bad.

"I hope the stupid rat bastard did too."

Secretly, she decided that she hoped so too. If she were honest, Sophie was petrified of dark wizards coming after her and her family. Her brother had been named the boy-who-lived the night her mum died. A dark wizard, called you-know-who by the terrified population, had shown up at their house and killed her mum, but when he turned his wand on Harry, the curse rebounded and Harry survived while you-know-who did not. It had made Harry, and by extension their family, famous and a target for a lot of angry death eaters over the next two years. By then, most of them were dead or in the wizards' prison. The news that there were still some out there, being able to walk free, was terrifying.

"Sophie?" Sophie jumped, startled out of her thoughts. Sirius was standing in front of her on the stairwell. "I thought you were in your room."

"I was just looking for Artemis."

Sirius sat down next to her on one of the steps and wrapped an arm around her. Sophie leaned into him and let him rest his chin on top of her head. "I wish you hadn't overheard that. But since you did – is there anything you'd like to know?"

Sirius probably sugar-coated a lot of what he told her, but Sophie knew he'd be honest with her.

"This Peter Pettigrew, he was one of You-Know-Who's supporters? And he's still out there?"

Sirius seemed in thought before he nodded. "But you don't have to worry about him, Love. Leave that to me."

Sophie didn't mention that Pettigrew's case was being closed and would be left to nobody. She had to trust that if he ever resurfaced, Sirius would put him in Azkaban so he couldn't hurt anyone else. "Is he dangerous?"

"Yes, but I'll never let him near you." She could feel Sirius' arm tighten protectively around her. "Now, I imagine you have a long day tomorrow, so why don't you try to get some sleep?"

He stood up and offered her a hand, pulling her to her feet.

"G'night Siri." She said, using the old childish nickname they used to call him.

"Good night, Princess."


	2. Astoria Greengrass

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 2: Astoria Greengrass<em>**

The four tables were still pushed together when Sophie came downstairs for breakfast the next morning. It was less cramped as everyone flowed in at their own pace. Sophie was a bit late, wanting to be dressed and set to go immediately after they finished eating.

Sirius was there, lazily flipping through the Daily Prophet. Harry and Ron were at the end of the table, scrambling to add an extra five inches to their forgotten potions essays. The Weasley twins were across from them, heads down and speaking about something or other. Sophie still didn't really know them, although she was wary of them after all the stories her brother had told.

"Good morning Sophie," Percy greeted as she flipped through the breakfast menu. Sophie had always felt a little intimidated by Percy. He was much older than her and seemed closer to the adults than his fellow siblings. "Excited?"

"Yes, I've been waiting to go ever since Harry left," she truthfully replied.

She tapped her wand against her order on the menu, like James had instructed her to do the day before when she finally had her wand. Normally, she would have had to wait for someone to order for her, or the waitress to appear. A plate loaded with toast, sausage, eggs and fried tomatoes appeared in front of her with a glass of pumpkin juice. She felt satisfied, and a bit grown up, to be able to order her own meal.

"Ginny was the same. Have you given any thought to your sorting tonight?" He politely asked.

"I'd like to be in Gryffindor, my whole family's been there," Sophie started. "But it's hard to imagine what the sorting hat would think of me."

"If you don't get Gryffindor, I think Ravenclaw would be a good match for you, you seem very intelligent for your age and much more mature than most of your year mates will probably be."

Sophie beamed at the praise. Her father had always said she was more mature than her brother, and much less likely to make his hair go grey. Harry had a knack for finding the worst sorts of trouble at Hogwarts. Last year, James had threatened to pull Harry from Hogwarts and send them both to Beauxbatons this year. His friend, Remus Lupin, had reasoned with him over the summer and James had changed his mind.

Everyone quickly dispersed near ten o'clock. Harry and the various Weasley brothers were all trying to pack last minute items. There was a bit of a misunderstanding between Ron and Hermione upstairs, and Sophie could hear their raised voices from the pub. Mr Weasley had gone to check if the cars had arrived yet; they had ordered four cars from Mad Cabs to take them to Kings Cross.

Despite being one of the first ones ready to go, Sophie was the last to actually leave the Leaky. The Weasleys and Grangers had already gone ahead, but Sophie had to wait for her brother's last minute scrambling.

"Dad, we need to _go_!" Sophie urged. She wanted to be on time and not rushing at the last minute like they usually were. "Can't Sirius just apparate them when they're done?"

"Relax," James said, looking at his wrist watch. "We'll be on time. If not, I'm sure Sirius would be willing to give you a grand entrance on a flying motorcycle."

Sophie was rather mortified by the thought.

Luckily Harry and Sirius choose that moment to appear. Harry's hair looked even more rumpled than before, and Sophie was grateful that her hair was much tamer. While Harry looked like James, Sophie looked more like their mum. The only noticeable difference was that Sophie's hair was a dark brown while Lily's had been a beautiful auburn colour. Harry and Sophie both had inherited their mum's eyes.

The cab ride to the train station was fairly quiet. While James was trying his best to hide it, Sophie knew he wasn't entirely happy about their departure. Sirius seemed to pick up on James' disquiet and tried to lighten the mood.

"Eleven's a good age to send them away," Sirius sagely informed James. "They stop being cute and start talking back around then."

Sophie stuck out her tongue at him.

"See?" Sirius squeezed an arm around Sophie. "Let Professor McGonagall deal with _that_."

They arrived at King's Cross in good time, and found the Weasleys on the platform. The Grangers had already left, having said goodbye to Hermione before she crossed the barrier.

James motioned her away from the rest of the group. "I have a gift for you."

He pulled out a faded piece of parchment from his cloak pocket. When Harry had left for Hogwarts, their dad had given him a family heirloom, the invisibility cloak. Sophie inspected the proffered item. It was yellowed and crinkled with age, but otherwise blank.

"It's a piece of parchment," she told him.

"It's not just a piece of parchment, let me show you. I solemnly swear I am up to no good," James tapped his wand against it. Immediately, it came to life, black lines stretching out from where his wand had tapped. They twisted and turned until it formed a map. A few black dots roamed the map and upon closer inspection, Sophie realized they had tiny letters next to them. _M McGonagall _and _A Dumbledore _were together in a large rectangular room that was labelled as The Great Hall.

"It's a map of Hogwarts!"

James grinned fondly at the map. "Did more to keep Sirius and I out of trouble than Remus ever could. Although I imagine you wouldn't use it for any wrong-doing. This is Sophie Lily Potter," James spoke to the map. "You'll be good to her."

_Mr Prongs is delighted to meet Ms Sophie Lily Potter._

_Mr Padfoot offers his compliments to the lovely Ms Potter._

"Who are they?" Sophie giggled as the writing continued.

"One of the great mysteries of our world." James ruffled her hair. "Don't listen to them too much, they like a joke and will lead you into trouble. Mischief Managed." James said and the map faded away, leaving the parchment blank once more. "Don't forget to wipe it blank or anyone can use it. And try not to let Snape catch you with it," he cautioned, and then added as an afterthought, "Or McGonagall or Flitch."

James and Sirius lifted the trunks into the storage compartment below the train. Sirius had reassured her that she wouldn't have to worry about getting it later; the house-elves would apparate it to her new dormitory. Sophie was soon caught up in the familiar whirlwind of hugs and goodbyes before she boarded the train. Although this time, she was hugging her dad and Sirius goodbye rather than her brother.

"You'll owl us," James was saying, "at least once a week. We'd prefer twice – "

Sirius wrestled her out of James' grip. "My turn," he smiled broadly. "Have fun, owl as often as you can and we'll see you at Christmas! Love you, Princess!"

He cupped her cheeks in his hands before kissing her forehead goodbye. The whistle blew, signalling a warning that it would be leaving soon. James hugged her one last time before sending her off with Harry. Sophie waved to them as she boarded the train. James was looking a bit misty-eyed so she hastily retreated, not liking the idea of seeing him cry.

Harry disappeared once making sure Sophie would be fine on her own. She waved him off, knowing he probably didn't want to tote his little sister around. She was curious to meet some of the other first years anyway. She knew Elliott Longbottom and Myron McKinnon of course; their families had been friends for years. She had very few girl friends and was eager to finally be able to befriend girls her own age. Both her father and her brother met their best friend on the Hogwarts express. Maybe she'd meet hers too.

She glanced into some of the compartments, but most of the other students seemed much older than her. A group of Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, more Hufflepuffs some Slytherins – where were all the first years? She decided she'd try to find Elliott and Myron first and then maybe after lunch they could brave the other compartments and meet people.

She reached out to open the sliding door that separated the various train compartments. The door slid by itself and Sophie wondered if it was charmed to do that. She nearly jumped when she found herself face to face with another girl.

"Hullo." The girl brightly greeted once the surprise wore off. She had light brown hair that was neatly arranged in a braided twist. The girl's sapphire blue eyes trailed down her robes. "You're a first year too!"

Sophie noticed that the other girl was wearing the standard black robes devoid of any colours that marked the unsorted first years. "Hi – yes, I am."

"Were you looking for an empty compartment?"

"I was looking for my friends – do you have anyone to sit with?" Sophie quickly amended when the other girl's face dropped a bit.

"Well, not exactly. I have a sister in third year, but she told me to go and 'make friends'." She smiled sadly. "So here I am."

"Would you like to sit with us?"

"I would like that, I'm Astoria, by the way."

"Sophie."

"So, how was your summer?" Astoria asked.

"Fine, my family are nuts for Quidditch, so we went to the Europe Cup in Germany," she replied. "How were yours, Astoria?"

"Oh, they were nice; we went to Cyprus for some of it."

Students were running up and down the length of the train, excited to see old friends after the summer apart. The girls squeezed to the side to get out of the way as a boy sped past them. "Oh _honestly_," Sophie scoffed.

Finally, Sophie knocked on a compartment door and was greeted by a familiar face.

"Sophie! About time you got here," a dark-skinned boy greeted her.

A round-faced boy with brown hair and brown eyes smiled shyly at Astoria. "Hi, I'm Elliott, and that's Myron."

"I'm Astoria. Sophie invited me to sit with you, if that's okay?"

"Of course!"

There were a few polite questions as they tried to include Astoria in their usual banter.

"How do you all know each other?" Astoria asked.

"Our parents were friends." Sophie slowly said, sharing a glance with Elliott and Myron. Between the three of them, only two of their parents still remained. Myron's dad had been killed in the war. Elliott and Neville lived with their grandmother after their parents were committed to St. Mungo's. They never talked about their parents. Sophie once asked James why the Longbottoms were in the hospital and he would only tell her they had been seriously injured.

Myron cheerfully agreed. "We grew up together. We're practically family!"

Astoria smiled with some understanding. "I have a few cousins, although they're mostly older than me. Laelia missed the cut-off date by two weeks though."

Myron pulled out a deck of exploding snap and the four spent the better half of the train ride speculating about Hogwarts and sharing what their older siblings had told them. Sophie exercised a healthy skepticism when Myron shared how his cousin had said Gryffindor tower was guarded by a three-headed dog and that you needed to pet him in the secret spot to get into the common room.

"Harry said – "

"Wait, your brother's _Harry_ – and he's a third year?" Astoria interrupted. "Is he Harry Potter?"

Sophie could already see the amused grin stretching across Myron's face. She hated when this happened, although she knew Astoria would find out anyway. "Er, yeah."

"That's so wicked. I've heard about him, I mean, _obviously_ the whole wizarding world has, but some other things from my sister. Like how he defeated Slytherin's monster in the chamber of secrets?"

Astoria looked impressed when Sophie nodded, confirming the rumour.

Myron laughed. "I overheard Mr Potter lecturing him not to go looking for trouble this year. Then Harry goes, 'I don't go looking for trouble, trouble usually finds me.'"

Sophie smiled despite herself. James had lectured them both about staying out of trouble. Sophie thought that was a bit rich of him, especially considering the stories he used to share about all the trouble he got into with Sirius. Although, she supposed it wasn't like they had smuggled dragons out the castle or fought monsters in the legendary Chamber of Secrets.

"_For the love of Helga,_" her father had said countless times, "_I hope you don't find _half_ as much trouble as your brother._"

Sirius would just laugh and remind him who Harry took after.

"_This is my _good_ child,_" James would stress,"_the one who takes after Lily._"

Since the four of them were already dressed in their black robes, they didn't have to leave to change. There was a shuffle as they straightened their rumpled robes, adjusted their ties and smoothed their hair. However, they would soon be soaked if the weather was any indication. During the journey to Hogwarts, the clouds had gotten darker and rain began pouring down. They put their cloaks on and pulled their hoods up over their heads, hopeful that it would keep out the worst of the rain.

The train slowed as it approached Hogsmeade station. Students started filling the corridors as they exited the train. The group separated from the much taller upper years, although none were quite as tall as the friendly half-giant who was gathering the first years. He towered over the lot of them and was quite easy to make out in the crowd, even without his booming voice.

"First years!" Hagrid called out. "First years, this way!"

"Hullo Sophie and Elliott," Hagrid greeted them. "Hullo Myron."

Astoria fearfully looked up at Hagrid. "He's bigger than I expected."

"Friendlier too, I'd reckon," Myron loyally defended him.

The four of them shared a boat and when all of the first years were situated, the boats took off at once. It was a rather miserable affair to get to the castle, the winds were strong and the rain was freezing. Fortunately, none of the boats capsized on the way over.

They huddled together once they finally made it inside, trying to ring out robes and hair, and appear somewhat presentable. Sophie thought it was rather hopeless, as they would all appear before the school looking like a colony of drenched rats. One of the girls near them knew a drying charm, so at least they wouldn't have to spend the feast in wet robes.

Professor Flitwick greeted them at the castle with a speech about the four houses of Hogwarts that they would soon be sorted into. Some of the students listened attentively, although most were whispering amongst themselves, passing along the incantation of the drying charm.

"Line up, please!" Flitwick bobbed around the first years, ushering them into pairs of two. Then, the giant doors swung open and they hurriedly followed him inside. Elliott and Myron were in front of her, while Astoria walked by her side. She could see Astoria wave at someone on the left side of the hall, most likely her sister.

A stool was step up in the middle of the aisle, with the ancient Hogwarts sorting hat sitting on top of it. It burst into a song about the four houses and the different traits each looked for. Sophie was grateful James had told her what to expect during the sorting, she couldn't imagine how nervous she would be otherwise.

Professor Flitwick had the list of names and began reading them as soon as the sorting hat had gone quiet. "Abberley, Erin!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table to their left jumped to their feet, applauding their first new member. Professor Flitwick himself smiled warmly, crumbling the list as he applauded. He allowed the cheers from the Ravenclaw house to die down before reading the next name off his list.

"Belby, Lyssa!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The table at the far left erupted into cheers. Lyssa Belby looked nervously at the table that was cheering for her, and shakily returned the hat to Flitwick. Sophie felt bad for her, wondering if she was scared of what awaited her in the house with the darkest reputation.

"Bell, Allison!"

Allison Bell sat on the stool for a full minute before the sorting hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" making her the first to join the table on the far right, coloured in red and gold. They made a ruckus as they cheered for her. Fred and George Weasley forced her to give them high-fives on her way past them.

As more names were called out, Sophie tried to stop herself from looking at the Gryffindors. Each time she glanced over, she grew a little more nervous for her own sorting. Almost everyone she knew was in that house. She couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

"Greengrass, Astoria!"

Astoria squeezed Sophie's hand before she approached the front of the aisle and Flitwick had dropped the hat over her head. The brim fell past Astoria's eyes. Sophie wondered if Astoria would be sorted into Gryffindor. When they had all expressed their desire for their houses on the train, Astoria had only smiled and said she wasn't sure where she wanted to be.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Sophie felt a surge of disappointment as her friend from the train joined the Slytherin table. Astoria seemed fun, and she would have liked the chance to become friends.

"Hall, Colleen!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Hughes" …, "Inglebee" …, "King" …, "Lafarge"…, "Ledas"…, "Llewllyn"…, and then a name she recognized.

"Longbottom, Elliott!"

Sophie watched as her childhood friend walked up to the front. She crossed her fingers that he'd end up in Gryffindor like he wanted.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry and Neville both looked happy as they jumped to their feet and cheered for Elliott. It wasn't long after he was joined by Myron.

"Odgen, Liam!"and "Oldfield Rufus!" were proclaimed Hufflepuffs. A "O'Neil, Luke!" joined Elliott and Myron in Gryffindor. They couldn't be far off from her sorting now. "Peasegood"…, "Penrose"…, "Pfeffer"….

"Potter, Sophie!"

Sophie tried to smile as she approached the front of the line. A few whispers had broken out, although she had adjusted to her family's fame years before. Flitwick dropped the sorting hat over her head and the Great Hall disappeared from her view.

"_Well, what have we here_?" A voice sounded within her head. Sophie's heart pounded in her chest, realizing this was the moment the hat would decide her fate. She hadn't been too nervous until the hat had dropped over her eyes, leaving her in darkness with a voice inside her head, who suddenly knew all of her hidden thoughts, desires and dreams.

"_Courageous and loyal, certainly, those values run deep in your family. A rather curious mind there, a desire for popularity and a thirst to prove yourself, to step out of your famous brother's shadow, and I know just the place – "_

Sophie felt her heart drop the second she realized where the hat was planning to sort her. It couldn't mean to place her in –

"SLYTHERIN!"


	3. Silver Serpents

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N: I have made some changes regarding the curriculum at Hogwarts. I could post a longer explanation if wanted, but the short answer is that I removed astronomy and history of magic, and had the first years take maths, english, muggle culture and wizarding society. MC and WS are the attempt to introduce muggle-borns to the magical world and half-bloods/pure-bloods to the muggle world.

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 3: Silver Serpents<em>**

Sophie felt as if she were in a daze as her feet led her to the Slytherin table. She glanced back at her brother's house. Ron's mouth had fallen open and Harry was trying to cover up his own look of shock. Tears pricked behind her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. The last thing she wanted to do was to make an even bigger fool of herself by crying in front of the entire school.

Sophie Potter, The-Girl-Who-Cried was not something she wanted to be called. Although, maybe the headmaster would take pity and let her be re-sorted if she did.

She didn't though, and soon enough her foot had taken her to the long table. The Slytherin house had jumped to its feet in applause. Students eagerly shook her hand as she walked by them. "Welcome to Slytherin, Ms Potter!" she heard as she made her way to the end of the table where the rest of the first years had gathered.

"Here, Sophie," Astoria slid over to make room for Sophie to join her at the table. "I'm so glad we'll be together!"

"Y-yeah," Sophie shakily agreed.

Sophie had barely taken her seat when the Slytherin house burst into another round of applause. A girl with silky blonde hair was making her way over to their table. She sat across from Sophie and Astoria.

Sophie glanced back towards the sorting where another girl was joining the cheering Ravenclaws.

There still remained a few students left to be sorted. "Sekelsky" …, "Selwyn"…, "Summers"…, – then finally, the sorting ended with "Vane, Romilda!" who was sorted into Gryffindor. Sophie didn't even bother to watch the girl join the house that she should have been in.

Professor Dumbledore rose to welcome the students and gave a few odd words before letting them eat. Various conversations among the newly sorted Slytherins broke out. Astoria joined some of the others in friendly introductions, but Sophie just wanted to be left alone after the sorting.

She half-heartedly began filling her plate with food, her appetite had vanished.

"I wonder who the new Defence professor is," the blonde girl across from her wondered aloud.

Harry and Ron hadn't known who would take the post after Lockhart had become 'ill-disposed'. The textbook on their class list had given no clue either; it was the standard textbook that most defence professors recommended. Curious, Sophie glanced at the staff table to see who would be taking the new position. Her eyes met the friendly, tawny ones of her uncle and former tutor, Remus Lupin.

_Remus_ was teaching? How long had he known? And he hadn't said a word all summer? Suddenly, Sophie felt her face burn. Remus had been at the staff table to witness her humiliation in front of the entire school.

"That's Remus Lupin," Sophie found herself contributing at last. "He taught my brother and me before Hogwarts."

The girl looked impressed. "He tutored _Harry Potter_ in defence?"

"Well, not exactly. He taught us maths and history and writing." Sophie shrugged. "He's a really great teacher, I'm sure he'll be brilliant with Defence."

She wasn't sure if it was due to her foray into the discussion or the causal reference to her famous brother, but she caught the attention of the rest of the first years.

"That's promising," Astoria piped in. "Daphne said Professors Quirrell and Lockhart were both very knowledgeable, but neither could really get it across in a classroom."

Sophie wondered what her brother would say to Astoria's assessment of Lockhart being 'knowledgeable'.

The blonde-haired girl seemed interested in Sophie after that. She watched her over the course of supper and tried to prompt her into answering more questions. Astoria and the rest of the first years were much better conversationalists and Sophie wondered why the girl didn't join _them_.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Sophie said after a while. She supposed it was only polite to try to be nice to her new dormmates.

"Nephele," she airily responded.

It wasn't just Nephele who had tried to prompt Sophie into speaking. The female prefect kept trying to include Sophie in the conversations, asking her opinion on various things or what she had heard so far.

Sophie was relieved once Dumbledore stood up to indicate that the feast was ending. There was a few announcements regarding Quidditch try-outs, new rules and the new professors. The applause she gave for Remus was the most enthusiasm Sophie could muster since being sorted in Slytherin. She was happy to see he received a good welcome. He looked right among the rest of the Hogwarts professors, dressed in brilliant midnight blue robes with silver embroidery.

Hagrid's introduction as the new Care of Magical Creatures professor had received a less enthused one, with only the Gryffindors and a few Hufflepuffs making much noise. Sophie joined in the applause, earning a few odd looks from the upper year Slytherins.

The female prefect, with her male counterpart, appeared at the end of their table once everyone began standing and clearing out of the hall.

She smiled at them, and introduced herself once more. "I'm Fiona Greystone, one of your prefects. This is Jason Greengrass, your other prefect. We'll be helping you while you adjust to Hogwarts, so don't be shy to ask us anything. Come along, we'll lead you back to the common room."

Sophie fell in step with Nephele on the way to the Slytherin common room. Astoria happily talked to the male prefect, who Sophie learned was her older brother, and made introductions.

"Monkshood." Jason said to the stone wall. A giant wood door appeared which he opened and allowed the first years through. "The password changes every two weeks, the new one will be posted on the notice board twenty-four hours before. Please do not give them out to friends in other houses."

Fiona continued, "Girls' rooms are in the passage on the left side, boys' rooms are in the passage on the right. Your trunks and things have been brought in from the train. Breakfast is served at seven-thirty in the Great Hall. We can all meet here in the common room so none of you get lost on the way there. Professor Snape, our Head of House, will give you your schedules in the morning."

The girls broke apart from the group, taking the passage to their new dormitory. A sign reading "First Year Girls" was on the first room.

"This is us," said one of the other girls. She opened the door and let out a startled gasp as Artemis dashed out of the room. "Merlin, someone's cat just escaped!"

"Just let him go," Sophie sighed. "He'll come back in the morning."

Each of the beds had one of their trunks at the end. Sophie found herself between one of the other girl's and Nephele's.

Sophie curled up in the bed and cried herself to sleep.

xXxXx

Sophie looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her school robes had gained the silver and green Slytherin crest over night and a house elf had laid out a selection of silver and green ties for her to choose from. The shops charmed the robes to reflect the house colour upon sorting and the former black lining had turned to emerald green. From now on, Sophie would be allowed to accessorize in neutral tones or emerald green and silver.

"The green and silver look good on you," Kitty kindly told her. "They bring out your eyes."

Sophie tried to give her new roommate a smile as she thanked her. She had found out in the bathroom this morning that her other roommates were Katharine Penrose and Lyssa Belby.

"Lyssa, are you done yet?" Nephele knocked on the bathroom door. "We're supposed to meet Fiona in ten minutes!"

It surprised Sophie how normal life in Slytherin was turning out to be. They were all still over-polite as they got to know each other and work out a routine in their shared bathroom. They had shared stories about home while getting ready. Sophie had confessed that her Uncle bought her all red and gold notebooks and Lyssa shared that hers were all blue and bronze. Nephele had charmed them green and silver so no-one would know they didn't get placed in their first choice. Not that that wasn't obvious in Sophie's case.

They were not at all how Harry and Ron described the Slytherins in their year. Sophie still vowed to stay far away from the likes of Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy though. Slytherin had a bad reputation for a reason.

_"Hagrid says there isn't a wizard who went bad who wasn't a Slytherin." _She could remember her brother saying after his first year.

She wondered what her brother thought of her now. What James and Sirius would think. While her dad had tried so hard not to prejudice them against any of the houses, she knew he didn't think much of Slytherin. And Sirius _hated_ the Slytherin house. He and Harry would trade stories about all the evil gits in it.

She wondered what her mum would have thought. James had filled her head with stories about her mum growing up. He'd tell stories about her kindness, her cleverness, her courage. How Lily stood up against bullies and bigots in the wizarding world and how she died to save the people she loved.

She probably would be ashamed to have a daughter in Slytherin, Sophie thought miserably.

Finally, all five girls were assembled and ready to go to breakfast. The common room was much brighter in the morning. It was still eerie; the windows into the Blake Lake bathed the room in a greenish light. Large, suede emerald couches and armchairs were clustered into groups around the room. Along the walls were tables with cozy armchairs for students to do homework.

As promised, Fiona was waiting in one of the large green armchairs near the centre of the room. The first year boys must have already left with Jason. Sophie vaguely remembered the way back to the Great Hall, but was grateful Fiona had shown them all the same. It was certainly better than trying to navigate it by themselves.

Fiona wished them well and then left to join the rest of the fifth year Slytherins.

They were soon approached by none other than Severus Snape himself. Somehow, he looked worse in person than Sophie ever imagined. The greasy, unkempt black hair hung limp to his shoulders. The large, hooked nose. The sallow, yellowish skin. For once, Harry and Ron were rather accurate in their descriptions.

"Belby, Greengrass, Penrose – " Professor Snape read as he handed out their schedules. His lips curled as he reached her name. Snape's hatred of her father and brother seemed to extend towards her as well. He'd probably have her expelled just for existing. "Potter, Rosier. I'll be holding a mandatory meeting for all Slytherins in the common room tonight at seven. Do not be late."

He left quickly after that to speak with the sixth years about their schedules.

Mathematics was first thing in morning. Sophie was hoping to sit with Myron and Elliott, but was forced to sit with Astoria and Nephele when the Gryffindors clustered together. Professor Tan gave them an hour long quiz to assess what everyone had already been taught. Sophie sighed as she filled out questions and basic computations. From what Harry had told her, most of the fall term would be review to make sure everyone was on the same page. Everyone had attended different primary schools or received different tutoring from their parents. There were a few wizarding primary schools, but it hadn't been safe for Harry to attend one until he was nine and by then there wasn't much point. Remus had tutored her family along with the Longbottoms and McKinnons since they were young anyway.

Maths was followed by a period of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry had said the previous two years hadn't been much good, but Sophie knew Remus would be the best Defence professor Hogwarts had ever had.

"Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts." Remus greeted them. "I thought we'd begin today with a discussion about what are the Dark Arts and what we need defending against. Then we'll go over what we'll be looking at for the rest of the year. Can anyone tell me what we could need to depend ourselves against?"

"Curses," Myron volunteered.

"Some hexes and jinxes," a girl from Ravenclaw added.

"Thank you, Mr McKinnon and Ms – ?"

"Pfeffer."

"Five points to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Yes, the Dark Arts are largely a lot of unfriendly spells." Remus agreed. "Anything else?"

"Dark creatures," Lyssa's hand was raised this time. "Werewolves, vampires, trolls, banshees, - "

Remus nodded. "Excellent. Ms Belby, five points to Slytherin. Anything else?"

Sophie raised her hand this time. She remembered her trip to Knockturn Alley with Sirius. "Cursed objects?"

"Yes, thank you Ms Potter. Five points to Slytherin. I'd like you all to read the introduction in your textbook and then we'll move on to something a bit more interesting for today."

There was a large, rustling sound as the class pulled out their copies of _The Dark Forces_ and flipped to the introduction chapter. After twenty minutes, Remus told them to put their books away. He asked some volunteers to summarize what they had read, and lead a short discussion on what they would be doing for the fall term.

Remus smiled, "Now, I promised we'd do something more interesting, didn't I? I suspect some of you are ready to take a crack at magic, so I thought we'd begin with a basic shield charm today."

They spent the rest of the period practising the incantation and wrist movements for a bubble shield charm. Remus walked around the room, poking at the shield bubbles produced. Most of them burst with a little probing or faded before he came around.

"I want to see those stronger by the end of the week. Class dismissed," he cheerfully announced at the end. Lowering his voice, he stopped by. "Sophie, a word?"

Sophie lowered her eyes and shook her head. She feared that a conversation with Remus would break her already shaky resolve and reduce her to tears again. "I – I can't stay, I should get to my next class."

"Why don't you stop by my office tonight after supper?"

"We have a meeting after supper, Professor Snape – "

"Oh, alright," Remus sighed, letting her leave with Astoria, who had been waiting by the door for her.

They were just in time to their English lesson. Again, Sophie had to sit with the Slytherin girls as a Gryffindor girl with thick, curly black hair had taken the seat next to Elliott and Myron, and two others had taken the seats in front.

Elliott shot her an apologetic look. "Hey Sophie, I'll see you at lunch?"

She nodded, but her smile quickly vanished at the Gryffindor girl's glare. She hastily took her seat with Astoria before Professor Appleton started roll call. The lesson passed quickly, with another brief introduction and outline of the term, and then Professor Appleton asking them to write a paragraph about their previous schooling to hand in.

Before long, they were making their way back to the Great Hall for lunch. Sophie excused herself from the group, wanting the chance to speak to her brother. Some of the first year Gryffindors gave her a curious look as she followed them to their table. She smiled nervously at them before sitting down to join Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"There's the Dark Witch," Ron greeted. "Have they made you pass a blood purity test yet?"

Sophie didn't bother to tell him she'd fail it anyway. Half of her grandparents were muggle.

"Shut up Ron," Hermione glared at him. To Sophie, she kindly said, "I'm sure not all of them are like Malfoy."

"The girls in my year seem nice," Sophie looked at her brother, who had so far remained silent. At least he hadn't said something cruel about her house yet. "Astoria's sister is in your year."

"Astoria?"

"Greengrass," she supplied.

"Greengrass is okay," Harry grudgingly agreed. "Just be careful around Malfoy."

Hermione directed the conversation after that, asking how classes were going and telling her about the new electives they had taken. They had just come from Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. Harry and Ron took great delight in telling her how Malfoy had insulted a Hippogriff and had to be taken to the hospital wing.

Sophie laughed with them. "He'll probably be impossible in the common room tonight. I bet by the time I hear it, Buckbeak would have tried to rip his arm off."

She still had yet to meet the infamous Malfoy, but from her brother's stories, she imagined he'd like to exaggerate and show off.

Hermione fretted. "I'm worried he'll try to get Hagrid in trouble over this."

"He'll probably owl his Daddy." Harry scowled.

Feeling a bit heartened, Sophie rejoined the girls in her year for their afternoon classes. They had Theory of Magic, Introduction to Muggle Culture and Transfiguration. Again, it was mostly the professors reading over the syllabus and talking about what they would cover during the term. McGonagall got them started with turning needles into matches. None of them had managed to transfigure their needle by the end of the period, although Sophie thought hers was looking a little thicker and duller.

"Can't believe we have homework on the first day," Nephele grumbled as she tossed herself on her bed. "I thought this was supposed to be review."

"This _is_ review," Lyssa replied. "Read the first chapter of Magical Theory, write twelve inches about our current knowledge of muggles and – "

"McGonagall gave us an essay for next week!"

Sophie realized why it seemed that Harry and Ron did nothing but homework and class. There didn't feel like much time to do anything else.

"Owl post," Astoria suddenly interrupted.

Astoria opened the window next to her four-poster bed and James' great horned owl, Rumplestiltskin, flew into the room. Sophie was surprised, she hadn't even written home yet. She was going to give a letter to Hedwig whenever Harry did.

"I don't have any owl treats," she apologized as she untied the scroll around Rump's left foot. Rump gave, in her opinion, a rather filthy look at that admission. "You'll have to go to the owlry if you want food."

Kitty offered him one of her owl's treats and stroked his neck, cooing at what a handsome owl he made. With Rumplestillskin content, Sophie returned her attention to the rolled parchment in hand. A pair of letters fell out as she unrolled it, one from her dad and one from Sirius. Apparently Remus had written after the sorting, worried about Sophie.

Her dad had written a good foot about how much he loved her, and he was proud of her and how Slytherin gained the best witch it could want. _Your house doesn't define you_, he had written._ Don't listen to your brother about all dark wizards coming from Slytherin._ _Gryffindor doesn't have the cleanest reputation either._

She had wondered what he meant by that. If only he had listed a few evil Gryffindors that she could throw in Harry and Ron's faces. Even if they had been nice about her sorting at lunch, that didn't mean they had let up the jokes at Slytherin's expense.

Sirius' letter was much shorter, but it made her laugh as he listed off all the 'good' Slytherins he had known. His cousin Andromeda and his uncle Alphard were high on his list. A few other Hogwarts professors were mentioned. Her grandmother had even been a Slytherin.

Sophie smiled, feeling a bit lighter now that her family had responded. Maybe she could survive this house.


	4. House Lines

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N:I hope you enjoy the brief description of the Slytherin common room. I see Slytherin as a house that values tradition and hierarchy. Also, they're a bit like the Slug Club in that they value making connections within their house. You never know when a friendship might prove useful down the line ;)

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 4: House Lines<em>**

Two weeks had passed before Sophie figured out how to proceed with her situation.

The sorting ceremony seemed definite, so she would have to be in Slytherin for the next seven years. That didn't mean she had to _be_ one of them. Surely other people had friends outside their house? She knew Harry's social circle was rather limited to just Gryffindor, but she could extend her own. She decided she could be nice without becoming best friends with any of her fellow Slytherins. The boys mostly kept to their own group, but it was harder to avoid her dormmates. Nephele seemed to spend most of her time alone anyway and Astoria had befriended Kitty fast enough.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Sophie said as she touched the map.

It had been dead useful so far. She wasn't allowed into the Gryffindor common room without the password and she was too proud to ask for it. So she contented herself with being able to magically show up where her friends were. She scanned the map, finding _H._ _Potter_, _R. Weasley _and _H. Granger_ together in the Gryffindor common room. _M. McKinnon _and_ E. Longbottom_ were upstairs in the first year boys' dormitory. Sophie sadly noted that outside of class and meals, they spent most of their time in Gryffindor. It was fine, however, because today she was looking for someone else.

_R. Vane_, _M. Eastchurch _and _N. Chambers_ were in the library. She grinned, _finally_.

She had learned the names of the three Gryffindor girls from her classes. Romilda Vane, Melissa Eastchurch and Nicole Chambers usually blocked her from sitting with Elliott and Myron in class or gave her odd looks whenever she sat with Harry for meals. She thought if they became friends, the girls wouldn't mind her so much.

She picked up her bag, charmed to hold all of her books while still being feather-light. She had Hermione to thank for that. No matter what homework the girls were working on, she should be able to join in.

She scanned the Slytherin common room, making sure it was clear. She had been very successful in avoiding most of the upper year Slytherins so far. Harry had made her promise to be careful, not wanting her to be in danger in her own common room and Sophie had heeded his advice.

She ran into Astoria and Kitty on her way out of the common room.

"Sophie!" Astoria greeted. "We were just on our way to the grounds. It's lovely outside, isn't it? Would you like to join us?"

Sophie had yet to be outside, and the windows in Slytherin didn't exactly show the weather. For a moment, Sophie nearly forgot her mission as she contemplated spending what surely would be one of the last warm days outside.

"Sorry, I was just heading to the library," Sophie politely responded.

Astoria sighed. "Nephele said the same thing. Well, you know where to find us if you'd like to take a break."

Nephele was certainly the most studious of their year. She always had her nose buried in a book. Most of the books Nephele read weren't related to class work at all, and Sophie wondered if the other girl was determined to read through the Hogwarts library before they finished school. Sophie had briefly entertained the thought of introducing her to Hermione, but then thought better of it.

She didn't think she could live in the same dorm if she learned Nephele or any of the other girls had a problem with muggle-borns. So far the topic of blood hadn't been breached. It was apparent that Nephele, Astoria and Kitty were all from wealthy, pure-blood families. Sometimes she wondered if they shared the views of the Malfoys and Blacks.

She liked Lyssa well enough. Lyssa was a half-blood and had thought she was destined for Ravenclaw. Sophie thought their similarities could allow them to be allies in Slytherin; Lyssa hadn't looked too pleased with her sorting either. Unfortunately, Lyssa spent most of her time with her friends in Ravenclaw. She seemed just as determined as Sophie to avoid actually being in Slytherin, although was much more successful in her attempts. Sophie was tempted to join her, but for now focussed her attentions on the Gryffindor house.

She found the girls in question and approached their table. The girls were giggling, their notes spread out so far untouched. The girls immediately stopped talking and starred at her.

"Yes, Potter?" Romilda Vane asked.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

The three girls giggled. "Why don't you go sit with some of your own sort, Potter?" Nicole Chambers sweetly asked. She indicated another table where Nephele was working on her own.

"I think she'd rather work in quiet – " Sophie tried to explain.

"Well, so would we." Vane announced. "This is the library, if you were looking to socialize, go back to your common room."

Sophie bravely ploughed on. "I thought it might be nice to meet people outside of Slytherin, I brought my homework though. I need to get this done too."

"Well, we're not really interested in meeting people _inside_ Slytherin." Chambers snootily said.

A rather heavy-set boy with short brown hair and blue eyes appeared at the table, glowering at the girls. Sophie knew him from class, and sighed. It appeared Derek Goyle had appointed himself as her bodyguard. This only made the girls giggle more. "Is he your boyfriend, Potter?"

Sophie scowled, vowing to tell Elliott and Myron to watch out for those girls. She spun on her heels and left the library, the sound of laughter behind her.

To Sophie's dismay, Elliott and Myron continued to be friendly with Vane, Eastchurch and Chambers. Elliott had only said that they didn't want to make any waves. "Besides," he said at supper, "You're our friend. They'll warm up to you."

He invited Sophie to join them on the grounds the next day. The Gryffindor first years had plans to do homework outside and play a game of Quaffle. Their homework was swiftly abandoned, however, as everyone was tired after being cooped up inside doing homework the day before.

Sophie was put on Elliott's team, with Vane and Chambers. With Elliott guarding the three goalposts, the three girls played chaser, running back and forth, trying to score a goal on the opposing team.

"I'm open!" Sophie called as Vane was blocked by Myron.

Chambers threw the quaffle to Vane anyway. Myron easily intercepted the pass and scored on Elliott.

The girls giggled. "Sorry Eli!"

"You could have passed it to me," Sophie scowled. Her words fell on deaf ears as her teammates continued to ignore her.

The rest of the game went on in this fashion. Eventually the opposing team stopped guarding Sophie, aware that she rarely touched the quaffle unless she intercepted a pass.

Half-heartedly, Sophie slowed down, letting the game happen around her. It was clear that she was only here as Elliott's friend. Chambers finally directed a throw at her, but Sophie missed it as she hadn't been paying attention. Eastchurch picked it up behind her and raced towards the goalposts, throwing it to Myron on her way.

"You could at least _try_," said Chambers.

Sophie scowled, vowing to shut Chambers up. She caught the quaffle Elliott had tossed back onto the field, racing towards the goalposts, dodging Myron and the other two girls as she went. She had played this game often enough growing up with Harry and the McKinnons and knew she was fast on her feet. She feigned throwing the quaffle into the left hoop and then aimed it into the right the moment the keeper went left.

The girls remained impassive, as if Sophie hadn't just scored their first goal. The keeper picked up the quaffle, ready to toss it back into the game.

"I get it," Sophie finally snapped. "I really do."

She fled from the game, not even turning around to see if someone, _anyone_, had made a move to chase after her. There were no voices calling her back to the field. She held back tears as she made her way through the castle, not quite wanting to catch anyone's eye and burst into tears in front of them.

She stayed in her dorm room for the rest of the afternoon, feigning sleep whenever one of the other girls appeared. Her stomach rumbled, upset that Sophie had neglected it to hide in her room all day. But Sophie didn't have the courage to face everyone in the Great Hall again. She sniffed hopelessly. No wonder she was a Slytherin, she couldn't even face a couple of mean girls.

"Miss Potter?" A tiny, high-pitched voice squeaked.

Sophie looked at the foot of her bed to find a house-elf standing there holding a plate piled with sandwiches and a piece of chocolate cake. "Hello?"

The house-elf offered the plate to Sophie. "Daffy brought Miss Potter supper."

"Oh thank you, but I'm not hungry," she lied.

"Miss Potter must eat," insisted the little house-elf, "Miss Potter's friend was most concerned when Miss Potter did not come down for lunch or supper."

Sophie accepted the plate, and quickly finished her meal. Daffy quietly stood, waiting for her to finish. "Can Daffy get Miss Potter anything else?"

"No, thank you Daffy," she said as she handed the empty plate back to the elf.

"Daffy hopes Miss Potter feels better tomorrow." She kindly said, before apparating back to the kitchens.

It wasn't until after Daffy had vanished to the kitchens that Sophie wondered who had sent her in the first place. She had said Sophie's friend was worried. Maybe Elliott or Myron felt bad after she left the game near tears? She bitterly thought it would be nice to have _them_ hunt _her_ down for once.

Nephele came upstairs later, and gave Sophie a questioning glance. "You missed lunch."

"Yes."

"And you missed supper."

"I'm aware." Sophie duly remarked. She really didn't want to discuss this with her roommates.

Nephele hesitantly sat on her bed next to Sophie's. Her keen, grey eyes scanned Sophie's face. "And you've been crying. Are you alright?"

It seemed that that statement finally set Sophie off. She started opening crying now, her face buried in her hands. After a few seconds, Nephele sat on the bed next to her, silently stroking Sophie's hair.

"My friends and family – " Sophie cried. "They all left me once I was sorted in Slytherin. E-Elliott and Myron won't even stick up for me and I've known _them_ since we were babies!"

"If that's the type of friends you had, then they weren't very good ones."

"Don't say that!"

"Mother says if they're not blood, then they don't matter."

"I wouldn't expect anything else from _your_ family." Sophie snapped. Her eyes went wide for an instant as a heavy silence fell over them. Nephele looked surprised too, although she quickly hid it.

She rolled her eyes. "She doesn't mean pure-blood, she means your blood. Has your brother cast you aside?"

"Well, no."

"Has your father disowned you?"

"Of course not!"

"Then the people who matter don't care. The Gryffindors may mind that you're a Slytherin, but there's one house where that isn't an issue. And you happen to be in it." She pointedly said. "I think Astoria _wants_ to be your friend, if you hadn't noticed."

Sophie's cheeks heated. She had been turning down Astoria's offers all week. "I've been rather awful to her, haven't I?"

"Well, yes." Nephele agreed. "You and Lyssa have been sulking this entire time about being sorted into Slytherin when the rest of us have been nothing but patient."

"I take it your patience is wearing out." Sophie ventured. She wondered if Lyssa had been given a similar talk.

"After tonight it will." Nephele agreed. "Now come, I think Astoria and Kitty are in the common room."

Astoria looked pleased at the inclusion of Sophie and Nephele in the common room that evening. Sophie felt rather guilty at how she brushed her first real friend at Hogwarts aside the past few weeks. She said as much, but Astoria easily waved it off.

"Mum said you needed time to see who your real friends were." Astoria wisely said.

"You wrote your mum about me?"

Astoria blushed. "I tell my mum everything. You and Lyssa seemed so sad after your sorting, so I asked why. She said there's a lot of misconception in our world that Slytherin is full of dark witches and wizards. I thought if we gave you both some space you'd come to see that we're not like that."

Sophie hesitantly asked. "But some are, aren't they?"

Nephele rolled her eyes. "Some of them are twats, but not as many as you think. The other houses are just as bad, except maybe Hufflepuff."

"My dad said that too." Sophie ventured. "About the other houses."

Astoria nodded. "Yes, Mum said her friend Andromeda was most surprised when one of the Gryffindors went dark. He killed thirteen muggles with a single curse."

She should have been more surprised at the knowledge of a dark Gryffindor, but Sophie was more focused on another piece of surprising information.

"Your Mum is friends with Andromeda Tonks?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, she comes round for tea often. They shared a dorm when they were at Hogwarts, you know."

Sophie had known that her Aunt Andromeda had once been a Slytherin, but it was odd to imagine her as friends with some of the parents of her current classmates. She had thought Andromeda had given up all of her old life when she had married Ted Tonks.

"I didn't know your mother knew the Blacks."

Astoria laughed, "No, Mum once said she was too _nouveau riche_ for the comfort of the Blacks."

Sophie let the other girls dictate the conversation after that, tired of all the heavy talk for the day. Astoria seemed to sense it, and allowed Kitty to lead the way with some gossip about the wizarding world's effluent members. Kitty seemed delighted at the chance and offered a story about the Parkinsons' latest attempts to impress the Malfoys.

"I think they should be more worried about fixing a match for their oldest daughter, Rosie," Kitty remarked. "She's a fifth year and Victoria said she hasn't been on a single date yet."

"Oh, they have someone in mind." Astoria's eyes glittered with amusement. "Pansy has to be nice to Daphne and I because her family is trying to impress ours. Jason wouldn't like anyone, especially Pansy, to bully us."

Sophie felt awkward sitting in the common room. Despite being at Hogwarts for over two weeks, she had only ever passed through the common room on her way to and from the dorms. She shivered, the Slytherin common room felt cold despite the run of good weather. There were two roaring fireplaces, one on the left side of the common room and one on the right. When Sophie suggested they move closer to one, Astoria and Kitty delved into a lesson on the unwritten rules of the Slytherin common room.

Upper year students had priority over the more desirable seating in the common room while the younger years were left to arrange the leftover armchairs and couches in the middle of the common room. The fourth and fifth years generally took the couches near the left and right side fireplaces, respectively. The sixth and seventh years preferred the larger circle of armchairs and couches near the glass wall, looking into the depths of the Great Lake.

Astoria gestured to the tables and armchairs off to the side. "Daphne said anyone can use the tables to work."

"Although it's considered proper to give it up should an older student ask, especially an OWL or NEWT student," Kitty agreed.

Sophie didn't bother to comment that Draco Malfoy had taken control of the fourth year's fireplace. It was clear that wealth and connections still outranked age and seniority in Slytherin.

As time crept closer to curfew, more and more students came in from the castle and stayed in the common room. Sophie was surprised at how full the room had gotten, but Kitty mentioned that Slytherins liked the chance to socialize at the end of the day.

The door opened once more and Lyssa walked through.

"Lyssa, why don't you join us?" Astoria asked.

"Thanks, but I should really get started on the readings for potions." She said, before quickly departing for the girls' dormitory.

"I don't know why you bother." Nephele mumbled.

Astoria's bright blue eyes flickered to Sophie and then back to Nephele. "I thought, well, never mind that now. Lyssa just needs a bit more time."

The conversation came to a close quickly after that. Jason noticed them across the room and started to approach them.

Astoria frowned once she made eye content with him. "Oh, you're lucky your brother isn't in your common room. Jason and Daphne think this means they get to boss me around. I suppose we should – yes, we're _going_ – " She rolled her eyes at Jason.

The four girls gathered their things and went to bed.


	5. Halloween Horrors

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N: Thank you everyone who read/reviewed/favourited/followed! I really do appreciate those! I'd really like some more reviews, just for feedback on what people think so far. I have a chapter-by-chapter guide of what will happen up to the end of Deathly Hallows, but I still have a lot of room to change things if they're not working. Fair warning, I'm writing in limited third person perspective, so the story is filtered through Sohie's bias and what she perceives to be true. So there will be things that readers know by virtue of reading the series that Sophie doesn't at the moment. You'll see that more the next few chapters. There are also a few moments that appear similar to canon events. I tried to rework them as best as I could or gloss over them, but they still needed to happen.

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 5: Halloween Horrors<em>**

"Sophie, come in."

It was becoming a tradition to meet with Remus for tea on the weekends. He had tracked her down after her first week and ever since she had been joining him for Sunday tea. Sometimes Harry and his friends would join, but most often it was her and Remus. Today it was just Remus in his office, with two tea cups, a teapot and some biscuits spread out on his desk. Sophie guessed he wasn't expecting her brother this time.

"First Hogsmeade weekend," Remus explained. "I suppose I can forgive your brother and his friends for wanting to explore the village instead of having tea with their old professor."

"He could make up for it by bringing us something from Honeydukes," Sophie sweetly replied.

Having an older brother could be so unfair at times. Harry got to do everything exciting and she always had to wait. She knew if she expressed this thought, Remus would just tell her what James had been saying for years. You just have to wait until you're Harry's age.

Remus poured her a cup and made small chat, telling her about the grindylow in the tank and his plan for their next lesson. Sophie attempted to sweet-talk Remus into giving Chambers, Eastchurch and Vane a troll on their latest essay. It was all in good fun, she knew Remus was too honourable to give the girls a mark lower than they deserved.

"As a professor I'm supposed to remain impartial," Remus winked.

"Snape doesn't," Sophie argued.

Remus looked thoughtful for a moment. "I've been meaning to ask, how has Professor Snape been behaving towards you?"

He had remained cold and indifferent to her since her arrival at Hogwarts. This was a huge relief as she had expected him to be just as mean to her as he had been towards Harry. She supposed his hands were tied between wanting to favour his own house, and wanting to dock points from a Potter. Harry had once explained that Professor Snape had gone to school with James and Sirius and they _hated_ each other.

"He hates me, but not as much as Harry."

"Harry looks a lot like James," Remus smiled sadly. "And well, you take after Lily. I had thought – "

"Thought what?"

"That he might be more tolerable to someone who doesn't look so much like his old school rival, but I suppose the name Potter still counts against you."

Sophie absentmindedly fiddled with her wand; they were dancing dangerously close to a topic she was scared to breach. Halloween was the anniversary of her mum's death. She had been hoping to ask Remus about her, even had a nice segue, but Sophie lost the nerve. James, Sirius and Remus always got really sad around the anniversary. Most of the year, they would fondly remember Lily, but today seemed to be too hard for them. Luckily, Remus seemed to anticipate the conversation.

"I think we sometimes forget that the anniversary of Lily's death is hard on you too." Remus murmured. "You can talk about her, you know."

"I don't remember that day at all," Sophie confessed. She had a few, very vague memories of her mum. She had been four when Lily was killed and Harry declared the Boy-Who-Lived. She thought she'd remember such a big day, or even just parts of it. She couldn't though. She remembered the funeral and the aftermath, but not the day she lost her mum.

"I don't imagine you would," Remus fiddled with his cup. "You were very young, and very sick. James had taken you to St Mungos that day. Dragon Pox was usually fatal in small children back then, and he was worried they'd lose you."

"So if I hadn't been at the hospital, we would have been – " She thought it odd that she had never heard what had happened that day. She had never asked before, and no one else liked talking about it. She suspected Harry remembered it, but he grew dark whenever the day was mentioned and Sophie didn't think she had the heart to ask him.

"James wouldn't have been able to save your mum, Sophie." Remus gently interrupted. "If anything, you having dragon pox may have saved your lives because it meant you weren't home."

"We were in hiding though; did he find us because we left?" She imagined there were spies waiting to report the moment the Potters were seen. Perhaps James had apparated and someone with connections at the ministry was able to track it?

Remus shook his head. "No, it was just a coincidence."

They fell into an uneasy silence after that. There were a few attempts to change the subject to a cheerier topic. Remus asked if Sophie had ever plans to participate in the Halloween festivities taking place during the afternoon.

"Astoria signed us up for Flitwick's pumpkin carving, and then I wanted to take the Forbidden Forest Tour."

It was the one day students were actually allowed to venture into the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid took them in small groups along a path he and some of the ghosts had arranged.

Remus' eyes twinkled. "Yes, try not to get separated. I hear Hagrid's pets are more frightening than anything he could possibly set up with Sir Nicholas."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," Remus answered.

Professor Snape entered, carrying a goblet that was smoking slightly. His beady black eyes glanced from Remus to Sophie.

"Thank you Severus," said Remus, "Just put it on my desk."

Snape nodded. "I have made an entire cauldron, should you require more."

He put the goblet down before swiftly leaving. His black robes billowed behind him. Sophie relaxed, grateful that he hadn't stayed long.

"Are you well?" Sophie worried.

Poor Remus had been hit with a curse during the war that left his immune system rather weak. He was always catching every bug that went around. The small consolation was that there was a potion he could could take to help boost his immunity. Professor Snape must have taken charge of brewing it. Remus once explained that it was rather complicated and he was dismal at preparing potions himself.

"There is a small bug going around, but I should be fine." Remus reassured her. "Severus was kind to prepare the potion anyway; you know how it is this time of year."

Without fail, Remus was always sick at least once a month.

Sophie looked at the wet tea leaves at the bottom of her cup. It was also becoming tradition to come up with obscure predications with the tea leaves. At first, it was much to Harry's annoyance, but eventually he and Ron joined in. Week after week they would try to come up with the most ridiculous deaths. Sophie thought hers looked a bit like a deformed fish. "I'll be at risk of drowning in the lake."

Remus grinned as he looked at his own perfect circle. "I'll be given a concussion by a quaffle."

She departed shortly after, having agreed to join the other girls for pumpkin carving outside Hagrid's cabin. He had grown dozens of giant pumpkins and the students had signed up in teams to carve them for tonight's feast. There would be 50 house points awarded to the best design.

All around her, students were gathered in teams of four or five, around a pumpkin that was often as tall as they. It was mostly the first and second years who were unable to attend the Hogsmeade visit with the upper years. Lyssa had unofficially joined one of the Ravenclaw teams; her and three girls were working on trying to carve the Ravenclaw eagle. Elliott and Myron were joined by Chambers, Eastchurch and Vane as usual, although Sophie was amused to see that the three girls looked unimpressed by Myron's curving of an inferi.

Sophie found Astoria, Kitty and Nephele, who had waited for her to get there. Astoria was drawing sample designs on a piece of parchment, and there were a number to choose from.

Sophie vanished the pumpkin seeds after Kitty had removed the top, leaving the inside hollow. Astoria lightly indented lines into the pumpkin with the pocket knife Flitwick had provided, the pattern of a cat against a full moon emerged from her artwork.

"You'll want to carve the moon out," Sophie added. "So that the candlelight will shine through, and the cat will look dark against it."

Kitty smiled at the drawing. "This will look so pretty!"

Nephele skillfully twirled her wand, mumbling the incantation of a carving spell Professor Flitwick had taught them earlier in the week for this occasion.

Kitty suddenly burst out laughing and smiled brightly at all of them. "Sophie, you're so funny!"

Astoria joined in with her. Nephele only raised her eyebrows, not glancing up as she concentrated on her charmwork.

"Don't turn around." Kitty softly said. "But Chambers keeps looking at us."

Kitty and Astoria had done this often enough those first few weeks of September, even after Sophie stopped trying to befriend the Gryffindor girls. Every time the Gryffindors appeared, they laughed louder and smiled more. Despite the pair being glad that Sophie was now free to spend time with them, they went to great lengths to show the Gryffindors that they were missing out. Astoria had explained it as the enemy of my friend is my enemy.

"There," Nephele said as she put her wand away. "I think it looks good, doesn't it?"

Sophie lit the candle inside the pumpkin and the four girls admired their work. They carved their initials into the bottom with the small pocket knife before Flitwick came to levitate their pumpkin to the cluster of finished pumpkins.

They joined the small queue of students behind Hagrid's hut for the tour of the Forbidden Forest.

" – five, six, seven, eight." Remus counted, indicating Sophie, Astoria, Kitty and Nephele. "Come along, this way."

"Re – ah, Professor Lupin?" Sophie asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I offered to give Hagrid some help with the tour this year, I was pretty familiar with the forest in my day."

"What were you doing in the forest?" Astoria politely asked.

"Oh, it was a pretty popular detention," Remus mildly responded. "I was here often."

Sophie couldn't tell if he was pulling their legs or not. James and Sirius always said that Remus was their more responsible friend.

Sophie, Astoria and Kitty nervously clung together as different ghosts and creatures jumped out at them in the forest. Nephele seemed unfazed at the various charms set in place. Remus guided them through the tour, telling them myths of various creatures and dark wizards.

"The muggles would later call him Count Dracula, although they've convinced themselves these days that he's only fiction – "

_THUNK!_

The girls screamed and clung tightly together. Even Remus seemed startled, although he controlled his reaction much better.

"What was that?" Kitty asked.

"The Whomping Willow, it's a touch temperamental." Remus explained. "Sometimes a bird goes to rest and it'll shake it off."

Sophie spied a giant willow tree. Indeed, it seemed to shudder before returning to sleep with a large groan.

Remus glanced at his wristwatch. "I think that's all for our tour. The feast should start soon. Off you go!"

They were nearly late to the Halloween Feast, although still managed to make it just in time. It was the first Halloween Sophie remembered ever being bearable, even with the heavy conversation with Remus. Usually James took them to visit their Mum's grave in the morning. It was the day Lily's absence was most felt in the Potter home.

Long after the feast, Sophie was still awake, distracting herself by watching the little dots on her map. Most of the dots were concentrated in their dorm rooms for the moment, with a few in the common rooms. Sophie prided herself on knowing the names of all forty students in her year, having studied the map often enough and determining which were the first year dormitories in each hose. Although there were still a few names she had yet to connect with a face. She saw her own dot, _S. Potter_ along with _L. Belby_,_ A. Greengrass_,_ K. Penrose_,and_ N. Rosier _together in their dormitory. She was certain her roommates were all asleep, having closed their curtains some time ago. In the boys' dormitory were _D. Goyle, T. Lafarge, B. Manderly, J. Peasegood _and _Z. Selwyn_. The common room was empty, everyone had returned to their rooms after a long day of celebrations. She spied on the Gryffindor common room where her friends and brother were all in their dormitories as well.

She scanned the corridors, looking for what the professors were up to this evening. _A. Dumbledore _was pacing in an elaborate seven-point star pattern in his office. He did this most nights, and Sophie liked to assume he was pondering some great mystery of the universe. _M. McGonagall _and _F. Flitwick_ were stationary in their personal quarters on the seventh floor, possibly having gone to bed. She flipped through the pages, finding _R. Lupin_ in his office on the third floor. _P. Sprout _and_ C. Burbage _were together in Professor Burbage's office on the main floor. Sophie suspected they were friends because they spent many evenings together. _S. Snape_ was in the dungeons, most likely brewing potions without the bother of students.

Sophie frowned as she noticed another dot. _P. Pettigrew_ was near the kitchens.

The name looked oddly familiar, she tapped at the dot with her wand and the name extended. _Peter Pettigrew._

"_The ministry's making budget cuts in the departments, I'm so sorry – they're going to close the Peter Pettigrew case_." She remembered the short conversation she had overheard between Sirius and James, and then the following one when Sirius had caught her eavesdropping.

_"Is he dangerous?"_

_"Yes, but I'll never let him near you__."_

She needed to tell a professor before Pettigrew could hurt someone! She scanned the map again, Professors Burbage, Sprout and Snape were all too close to the kitchens, she worried she'd run into Pettigrew. But she just might be able to make it to Remus' office without any trouble. She had the map, and as long as she kept an eye on it, she should be able to get there.

She grabbed her map and her wand and crept out of her dormitory and out of the common room.

"_Lumos_," she murmured, illuminating the dark corridor in a soft glow.

She kept a close eye on her map, making sure her pathway was clear. She didn't mind running into a professor so much as running into Filch or Pettigrew. Finally, she made her way from the dungeons up to the third floor. Remus would be able to contact Sirius this late and he'd catch Pettigrew, Sophie was certain.

"Remus? Remus, I know you're in there!" She knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she had pulled out her map and tapped it, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

She quickly located herself standing in front of Remus' quarters, but the dot labelled _R. Lupin_ had disappeared off the map. She frantically searched the hallways, but those turned up empty too. She thought the professors lived at the school, although now she was having second thoughts. Maybe Remus flooed home to sleep?

Wearily, she made her way back down to the dungeons where her common room were kept. She studied the map, maybe there was a clear path to Professor Sprout or Professor Snape without running into Pettigrew. As she scanned the map, she noticed Snape was no longer in the dungeons.

In fact, the dot labelled _S. Snape_ was rapidly approaching her own dot. She hastily wiped the map blank before he rounded on her.

"10 points for wandering the halls past curfew, Miss Potter, you really are like your brother, aren't you?"

"Please Professor! It's Peter Pettigrew! He's at Hogwarts! _He's at Hogwarts_!"

Severus Snape coldly starred at her. "5 points from Slytherin for your dramatics, Potter. How are you so sure that Pettigrew is at Hogwarts?"

Sophie suspected Snape was willing to lose the House Cup after all, if it meant punishing her for every little thing. Still, this was more important and he had a duty to protect students from death eaters like Pettigrew. He could alert Professor Dumbledore and the ministry and they would catch Pettigrew.

"I – I saw him."

Snape towered over her, his eyes boring into hers. She flinched and looked at the ground. At long last he spoke. "Empty your pockets!"

"I beg your – "

With the snap of his wand, Snape turned Sophie's pockets inside out. She hadn't had much, a few wrappers, a hair tie, her wand and the blank map. They all fell to the ground and she quickly tried to pick them up. Snape allowed her to keep her wand, although took her map. Her heart lurched, her dad said not to let the professors see it.

"Reveal your secrets!" He said to the map. "Show yourself!"

The map remained otherwise blank. "It's just some spare parchment," Sophie lamely protested.

He ignored it as he poked the map with his own wand. Sophie held her breath. "Professor Snape, Potions Master of this school, demands that you yield whatever secrets you hold."

To Sophie's horror, black lines slowly formed; although this time they took the shape of words.

_Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business._

Snape froze. If she had been in any other company, Sophie might have laughed. Misters Mooney, Padfoot and Prongs had entertained her many evenings with their witty comments. This time, she starred in silent horror at the map. _Please stop! _She thought. Unfortunately, Mr Prongs and Mr Padfoot had more to say on the matter.

_Mr Prongs agrees with Mr Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git._

_Mr Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor._

Professor Snape looked ready to murder her on the spot. "Go back to your common room." He slowly said, thrusting the map at her.

"Professor – "

"1 point. Go back to your common room, _now_."

She decided arguing with him would be a wasted effort. Once morning arrived, she would go to the owlry and write Sirius. He was going to flip when he learned that Snape hadn't listened to the threat of a death eater in the castle.


	6. Crackdown

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N: There is a minor explanation at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 6: Crackdown<strong> _

Sophie never got to owl Sirius the next morning.

When the first year girls emerged from their dormitory to go upstairs to breakfast, they were met with a commotion in the common room. Most of the students were awake and standing around the room. Sophie glanced around and could hear bits and pieces of the conversation.

"Wait until my father hears – "

"Especially after that nonsense with the Chamber last year – "

Jason Greengrass approached them when he noticed them standing in the common room.

"Jason, what's going on?" Astoria asked.

"The common room door has locked us in, no one knows why." He told them. "I'm sure Professor Snape will be here shortly to explain what's going on."

Sure enough, at half past seven, Professor Snape came billowing into the common room, black robes flapping behind him. A hush fell over the entire room as the students waited for their head of house to explain why he had locked them inside. Snape's eyes scanned the room, briefly resting on her for a second before he took them away.

"Last night Hogwarts had an intruder," he became as explanation. "Peter Pettigrew, a known Death Eater, was seen inside Hogwarts."

There were a few gasps and a hushed whisper broke out.

"Silence." Professor Snape demanded, before continuing. "The ministry has sent aurors to search the school grounds. In the meantime, you will remain in your common room. Class has been cancelled. Meals will be sent from the kitchens at the appropriate time. I suggest you use this time to catch up on whatever homework you neglected due to yesterday's celebrations."

With a grand sweep of his hand, plates loaded with breakfast appeared on the many desks and tables scattered throughout the common room. A table near the back had pitchers of pumpkin juice and hot water for tea.

"Miss Potter," Professor Snape's eyes fell on her again. "The Headmaster would like a word."

A hush whisper broke out once again.

"Yeah, that's her – "

"Harry Potter's little sister – "

"Pettigrew's probably after – "

She quickly followed Snape out of the common room, leaving the whispers behind.

The headmaster's office, as it turned out, was in one of the towers located on the seventh floor on the other side of the castle. It was a long walk accompanied by Snape's stony silence and her own wandering thoughts. Professor Snape had barely said a single word to her, silencing any attempts to learn what had happened the night before. Sophie snuck a glance at him. He looked tired, his eyes red rimmed and full of blood vessels. He must have been up all night with Professor Dumbledore and the ministry.

"Turtle truffles," Snape snapped at the gargoyles.

They sprung to life, revealing the spiral staircase they were guarding. Sophie followed Snape up the stairs. Inside the office was Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Percy Weasley, and Penelope Clearwater along Minister Fudge, Mr Scrimgeour and –

"Dad, Sirius, what are you doing h –"

James was hugging her before she could get the rest of the words out. "Oh Sophie. Thank Godric you're all right!"

"I'm fine!" Sophie's voice was muffled as she tried to reassure him.

"Professor Snape owled last night saying you had an encounter with Pettigrew." James explained. He held her at arm's length, inspecting her. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you? I can't _believe_ no one thought to take you to the hospital wing."

At this, James levelled a glare at Snape. Sophie shuffled, and James let her go, although he still kept a hand on her shoulder.

"Ms Potter appeared to have been fine." Snape dismissed.

"Not all curses leave marks, as I'm sure you well know!" James thundered.

Sophie flushed when she realized that everyone thought that she had been attacked the night before. "Dad, I'm fine, _really_. I didn't run into Pettigrew," at this, Mr Scrimgeour and Mr Fudge both bristled. "I – I saw him on the map."

James and Sirius shared a look.

"Are you sure, love?"

She nodded, at this she withdrew the map from her pocket and gave it back to James. He immediately passed it to Sirius who pocketed it.

"What map?" Mr Scrimgeour asked.

"James and I made a map well we were in Hogwarts," Sirius explained. "It shows every magical person on the grounds. It's very accurate."

Sophie was surprised. She wondered which of Moony, Padfoot and Prongs her dad and Sirius were. She wondered who the other map-maker was. Perhaps Remus or her mum?

James frowned, "But it's not perfect. It doesn't show house-elves, or any magical creatures, or an animagus in form – "

Mr Scrimgeour nodded in thought. "He could have been hiding at Hogwarts all these years; it's very difficult to detect an animagus, especially such a small creature."

"Pettigrew?" McGonagall asked. "I would have never suspected him to go through the process! What is his form?"

James grimaced. "A rat."

Percy Weasley looked pale. "A rat?"

"Yes, common garden variety, missing his left toe." Sirius informed him. "We didn't want the general public to know of Pettigrew's form, they'd be scared of every rat they came across."

Sophie noticed that Percy looked even paler at that. He blinked a few times, in stunned silence.

"Percy?" Penelope Clearwater, the head girl, worriedly prompted him.

"Scabbers," He weakly announced. "I had a pet rat, gave him to Ron when he first started Hogwarts. He's missing one a toe on his front paw."

"Percy, when did you get Scabbers?" Sirius asked.

"The fall before I started Hogwarts," Percy said. "There was frost on the ground and he was freezing, so Mum let me keep him as a pet. It would have been sometime late 1986."

"McGonagall, can you – ?"

She nodded, "I'll fetch Mr Weasley and Mr Potter."

There were a few terse moments as Sirius and Scrimgeour prepared to catch Pettigrew upon McGonagall's return. James kept a tight grip on Sophie's shoulder, shuffling her away from the center of the room. Soon enough McGonagall appeared with Ron and Harry in tow.

"Well?" demanded Fudge. "Do you have Pettigrew?"

McGonagall's lips formed a thin line. "It appears that the rat, Scabbers, is missing."

Ron looked at the floor. "He disappeared after Hermione got this cat, Crookshank. Is he really – "

Both Harry and Ron looked disturbed to know that a death eater may have been living in their dormitory this entire time, disguised as Ron's pet rat. Sophie felt a shiver of her own. Maybe afterwards she should get Artemis looked at.

"We don't know for certain, but it's the closest lead we had for years," said Sirius. "If he reappears, I want you to bring him to one of your professors, immediately. Understand?"

Fudge looked livid that a death eater had been hiding in Hogwarts all these years. "What will the press say?" He bemoaned.

He was ignored as everyone else started making plans to search the school and keep the students safe.

Dumbledore turned to address Percy and Penelope. "Mr Weasley and Ms Clearwater, I will ask you to suspend prefect patrols for the time being. I'd also ask that you have your prefects do hours in their common rooms instead, taking a head count at night and keeping their students from wandering out past curfew."

"Professor Dumbledore, if you're finished with the kids, I'd like to take them back to their common rooms," asked James.

"Yes, of course. I trust you know your way around," Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he glanced at Sirius and James.

James ushered the three of them out of the Headmaster's office, Sirius following along behind him.

"I'll talk these two back," Sirius nodded his head to Ron and Harry. "I'd like to take a closer look at their room anyway."

James looked like he wanted to hug Harry, although Sophie knew her brother would protest at that. Instead, he settled for ruffling Harry's hair and telling Ron and Harry to be careful.

"We always are," said Harry.

Ron grinned. "I'll keep him out of trouble, Mr Potter."

"Come along," Sirius said. "I'll see you at Christmas, Sophie. Take care of yourself."

James escorted her back to the Slytherin common room, making light talk as they went. Sophie was glad for the chance to see her Dad, and tell him everything that she couldn't put into writing.

As they made it to the dungeons, James stopped them.

"Sophie, I need you to promise me that you'll be careful, okay? Pettigrew is a very dangerous wizard and I don't want him to get the chance to hurt you. Last night when Snape owled – " James shook his head. His eyes held a trace of fear. "You and your brother mean the world to me."

"Dad - " Sophie weakly protested. "I'll be fine. I thought Pettigrew was after Harry anyway. You don't need to worry about me, really."

James gently smoothed her hair. "I don't want to scare you, but you're Harry's weak spot and it doesn't take the brightest wizard to catch that. Your brother fought a basilisk to save Ron's sister; imagine what he would do to save his own. I don't want either of you getting caught up in Pettigrew's plots."

He wrapped her in a rather tight hug, pressing a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you, Sophie. Please stay safe."

She nodded, but it was a few more seconds before James let her go.

"_Gurdyroot_." She said to the stone wall. The passage way to the common room appeared in front of her. She waved goodbye to her dad before she disappeared from the corridor and walked down the dimly light passage.

Students stopped talking and curiously looked to Sophie when she re-entered the common room.

"What's going on?" One sixth year demanded.

"Did your brother get into trouble again?" Draco Malfoy asked. Even louder, he said, "Potter's probably got himself expelled this time." There was some nervous laughter at this from some of the other students.

Sophie glanced around the common room until her eyes settled on Nephele, Astoria and Kitty. Astoria nodded and smiled encouragingly.

"They're searching for Pettigrew." She said. It wasn't any more than Snape had told them earlier. She wasn't sure how much she was supposed to share just yet.

"Why'd Dumbledore want to talk to _you_?" Pansy Parkinson haughtily asked. She immediately looked to Draco for his approval.

"Isn't it obvious?" Another student interrupted, "Someone's after the Boy-Who-Lived _again_."

There were more questions, but Sophie really couldn't answer how long they would be in there for or what the ministry was doing to find Pettigrew or what he did that was so bad.

"That's enough now," Jason waved them off. "She's a first year, she doesn't know anything important."

Sophie almost wanted to bristle at being dismissed as some stupid little first year, but was relieved when Jason led her over to her friends.

"Stay here," he quietly advised. "And whatever you know, keep it to yourself. Snape will explain everything we need to know later."

Her friends looked expectantly towards her, waiting to hear what had happened and why Snape had taken her to see Dumbledore. Even Lyssa inched closer to the group, wanting to hear an explanation. Sophie mutely shook her head; she still wasn't sure how much she should tell her new friends. She promised she'd tell them later, once they were away from the crowd.

By the time lunch appeared in the common room, everyone was restless from being stuck in Slytherin all morning. Sophie was famished, as the appearance of food reminded her that she hadn't eaten yet today. She loaded her plate with the little ham-and-cheese sandwiches before joining the rest of the first years where they had clustered together.

"Peter Pettigrew's been on the run for the past seven years," Zephyr Selwyn, a fellow first year, informed them. "My uncle works for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and said he's been driving Auror Black mad for years. He blew up the street and 13 muggles when Black first tried to arrest him. They say Pettigrew was right in the inner circle."

"Your uncle would know, wouldn't he?" Nephele asked.

Zephyr looked annoyed. "My uncle's a free man, Rosier."

Professor Snape returned in the afternoon with a giant kneazle in his arms. Sophie had to duck to hide her giggle at the stern looking professor holding the fluffiest cat she had ever seen.

Snape addressed them. "As you know, Peter Pettigrew was spotted inside Hogwarts last night. Pettigrew is a highly dangerous fugitive, with the animagus form of a rat. For your protection a number of aurors has searched the school for Pettigrew. As the search as turned up empty, we will resume our usual schedule tomorrow. Although I suggest you exercise an amount of caution in your spare time. This is Salazar, who will remain in Slytherin for your protection. I expect you to treat him in an appropriate manner."

"An army of kneazles." Nephele murmured in disbelief. "They're going to catch Pettigrew with an army of kneazles."

Each of the common rooms was equipped with a kneazle that patrolled, looking for rats. Salazar, Godric, Helga and Rowena were joined by a dozen others who wandered the hallways. The ministry had a "dead or alive" attitude about finding Pettigrew, especially since he was around students.

Sophie supposed being hunted by a cat was better than what was hunting Pettigrew outside the grounds. Dumbledore seemed put-out when he announced that evening that Hogwarts would be playing host to the dementors of Azkaban. Minister Fudge had insisted that they guard the borders of the school in an attempt to apprehend Pettigrew.

It wasn't until the following Saturday that the presence of the dementors was felt by the students. It was the first quidditch game of the year, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. It was supposed to be Gryffindor versus Slytherin, but Slytherin had put up a resistance that their seeker had been injured and needed time to recover before he could be expected to play. It was ridiculous as Malfoy's arm had been fine for a while now, magical healing had speeded the process, but he had argued that it still hadn't been properly 'rehabilitated'.

Sophie doubted Draco was much of a match against Harry anyway, but was glad she wouldn't be forced to choose between her house and her brother for her first game at Hogwarts.

She slipped into the Gryffindor stands to sit with Ron, Hermione and Neville. At least with them she could openly cheer for Harry and the Gryffindors without attracting dirty looks. Most of Slytherin was hoping Hufflepuff would win as it would better their overall chance at winning the Quidditch Cup. Sophie suspected they would cheer for anyone over Gryffindor, even if Hufflepuff was a threat to the Quidditch Cup. The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin ran quite deep.

The stands sheltered them from the worst of the wind and rain, but they were still damp and cold. Sophie hoped the game wouldn't last long, for this would be a miserable match to watch. She squeezed by a few students, trying to spot Hermione or Ron, although it was difficult with everyone keep their cloaks up.

"Excuse me," she murmured as she walked past a group of girls.

They looked up at her and Sophie cursed her luck.

"What are _you_ doing here? These are the Gryffindor stands." Vane snootily asked.

Vane was getting increasingly territorial with the Gryffindor and Slytherin divide. Sophie was reminded in class, at meals, at the library, or really whenever she tried to speak with Elliott and Myron, that she should really be with her own house. It seemed every part of the school had reserved seating for Gryffindor only. It was nonsense of course, students were allowed to sit with other houses in class or at meals, but Vane didn't see past the green on Sophie's robes

"I'm cheering for my _brother_." She haughtily replied. "His friends invited me to sit with them."

Interfering with family was the one line Vane had yet to cross. Even she shut her mouth when Sophie sat with Harry at mealtimes. She must have known that Harry Potter wouldn't tolerate being told he couldn't talk to his sister.

She smiled as she spoke briefly to Elliott and Myron, _on Gryffindor territory_, before continuing on her way.

"Sophie!" Hermione called out over the wind. "We saved you a seat, here."

She joined Hermione under the large, red and gold umbrella that Hermione had charmed to repel rain. She did a drying charm on herself, and felt much better. Although it was still rather difficult to watch the game.

They could barely make out the blurs of red and yellow as they flew through the rain. Even Lee Jordan's commentary was muffled by the wind and cut out completely at times by the boom of thunder. At one point, Jordan announced that Gryffindor was leading 70-30.

Hermione made a noise beside her. "Harry won't even be able to see in this weather! He'll never catch the snitch like this."

Gryffindor scored again, although the cheer was delayed as they only realized it after Jordan announced Gryffindor was now leading 80-30.

A few moments later, Lee Jordan announced that Captain Wood had called for a time-out. Sophie could see the Gryffindor team gather in front of their stands.

"I've got it!" Hermione suddenly jumped up. She pulled her cloak over her head and was gone before anyone could ask what she was doing.

"Where's she going?" Sophie asked as Hermione pushed her way through the stands.

"No idea." Ron shrugged, "Usually when she says that, she runs off to the library."

Hermione reappeared, beaming as if she had figured something out. "I put the repelling-charm on Harry's glasses; he should be able to see now."

Wood resumed the game, the team taking off into the air once more.

Sophie shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. It felt like there was a dramatic drop in the temperature. Suddenly, she could hear screaming.

_"Crucio!" _She could hear another man screaming in pain.

A little girl started shrieking over the nose. _"Stop it! Stop it! You're hurting him!"_

"Sophie? _Sophie_!"

She blinked, finding herself curled into a ball on the ground. Her teeth were still chattering from the cold. Ron was kneeling in front of her, looking white beneath his freckles. Hermione hovered over his shoulder; her eyes were red-rimmed with tears.

"What happened?" She weakly asked.

Ron looked grim. "Dementors came onto the ground. Dumbledore shot some silver stuff at them, and they left the stadium right away. Can you stand?"

"I – I think so," she shakily said.

Ron pulled her to her feet. "Sophie, there's something else. We need to get to the hospital wing."

"Why?" She asked. They were all a little shaken, but otherwise looked fine.

"When the dementors came, Harry fell off his broom."

* * *

><p>AN I think James, Sirius and Remus stopped using their nicknames after Pettigew betrayed them. It brought up a lot of unpleasant reminders for them. This is why Sophie is unfamiliar with the nicknames. Sirius also alerted Scrimgeour (his boss) to the fact that he, James and Peter were unregistered animagus. Very few people know, and Scrimgeour didn't see the point in forcing James and Sirius to register. I don't think James and Sirius would hold on to that secret if they thought it was how Pettigrew was getting around. They also removed Wormtail from the map, which is why he hasn't spoken and Sophie isn't aware of him.


	7. A Very Marauder Christmas

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter 7: A Very Marauder Christmas<em>**

Harry had been fine after the fall. Dumbledore had slowed the descent and prevented any major injuries. Madame Pomphrey released him the next day.

The term slowed down, even the professors unable to accomplish much with everyone so excited about the upcoming holidays. That didn't prevent any of them from giving out homework to be done over the break. Still, Sophie was very much looking forward to going home for the holidays.

Elliott and Myron had already promised to sit with Chambers, Eastchurch and Vane on the train, so Sophie made plans to sit with the rest of the Slytherin girls. She saw less and less of the boys during the term, their presence constantly monopolized by a group of girls who hated Sophie. While she knew that she would have to tolerate the Gryffindor girls as part of Elliott and Myron's life, she was slowly becoming discouraged at how hard it was to maintain her friendship with Elliott and Myron. She bitterly wondered if they defended _her_ as often as they defended their fellow Gryffindors.

For once, she wasn't looking forward to the annual New Year's Eve party Mrs McKinnon threw. While in the past it had meant spending the night with Elliott and Myron, the three reveling in the chance to stay up past bedtime, this year it would no doubt be packed with their Gryffindor classmates.

She expressed as much to her new friends.

"Everyone knows Malfoy Manor is the only place to be on New Year's Eve," sighed Kitty. She went on to wistfully describe the grand party that took place. While Kitty had been deemed 'too young' to attend in the past, her elder sisters were able to go the year before.

"Mrs Malfoy was a Black, I'm sure your family will be invited," she added.

Sirius hated anything to do with his 'other family' and usually tore up the obligatory invite that Mrs Malfoy sent them each year.

Astoria looked at her fingernails. "I was hoping to host a New Year's Party at my house."

That had the girls' attention.

"Daphne used to invite all the girls from her year, and our cousins would come too. They're all old enough to go to the Malfoy's this year, so it would just be us and my cousin, Laelia."

The girls excitedly chattered about planning a New Years Eve party and what they would do for the evening. Before long, the Hogwarts Express was pulling into King's Cross.

Kitty looked out the window. "Oh, we're here!"

The girls made their way into the packed corridors, everyone eager to go home after the long train ride from Hogwarts. They had left early in the morning and had arrived just before dark.

Nephele quietly disappeared from behind them; she must have spotted her mother. Sophie cheerfully waved goodbye to Astoria and Kitty. There had been some more talk of visits during the break, and Astoria was quite certain that her parents would want to meet theirs.

"Sirius!" Sophie greeted her godfather. James had written the day before to say that Sirius would pick them up at the platform and he would meet them at home. It was his last shift at St Mungos before he had his holidays.

"Hello, Princess!" He swept her into a hug. "How was the train?"

She returned the hug, answering in the positive while they scanned the crowd for Harry. Sure enough, he was over with the Weasleys, their bright red hair easy to spot amongst the families on the platform.

"Sophie! Sirius!" Mrs Weasley smiled at both of them, pulling Sophie into a hug. "How did you enjoy your first term, dear?"

"It was excellent!" Sophie told her.

"Will you be joining us for Christmas this year?" Mrs Weasley asked Sirius. "You know you're always welcome."

"I'll talk to James about it, I think we're supposed to celebrate Christmas day with my cousin, Andromeda. We should be able to visit Christmas Eve?"

Waving goodbye to the Weasleys, Sirius led them to collect their trunks from the baggage cart. Sirius shrunk their trunks and then apparated the three of them home. They arrived at a deceptively muggle-looking two-storey house with a sign that said _Ruffy Ends_. Of course, the muggles couldn't actually see the house. Very few people could unless they had permission from Sirius or James. It had been explained to Harry and Sophie that the house was very well protected and unplottable, although Sophie knew that they lived somewhere in the countryside of Cornwall.

James and Sirius took holidays so that they could be home while Harry and Sophie were. Both were obviously excited to have them home for the holidays, and Sophie felt exhausted by the amount of time spent with her family. While Hogwarts was busy and there were always people around, Sophie had still managed to find some time to herself. At home, James and Sirius were making up for months apart and dogged her every step.

James ducked his head into Sophie's room. "I was about to head out to the market, want to come?"

Sophie nodded eager for the chance to get out of the house and finish off her Christmas shopping. Unlike Harry, who could visit Hogsmeade to do his, she had to rely on owl order or others to do her shopping.

St Isidore Market was the only place the wizarding community did all of their grocery shopping. The marketplace hadn't changed much over the past few hundred years, although it had greatly expanded since then. It had been magically enlarged over the years, with a second level on top and an in-closed court-yard that had been charmed to stay warm year-round. Most of the food vendors were on the main floor, with artisans and other products on the second. Hot food could be purchased in the courtyard where picnic tables were set up to eat.

James looked at his watch, "I'll be an hour, meet me at the food court."

Sophie was allowed to browse the different stalls while James picked up groceries for the holidays. She had her immediate family covered (give James, Sirius and Harry anything quidditch related and they were ecstatic), but Sophie still had a few gifts to find.

The second floor was crammed with witches and wizards selling wand-crafted products. Sophie had taken great delight in finding muggle gifts for her pure-blood friends. In a stall that sold "muggle oddities" she found a something called a Rubik's cube and some number puzzles for Nephele, a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ for Astoria and a singing jewelry box for Kitty. Remus would be receiving a coffee mug that was charmed to say "World's Best Professor" when warm.

With only a few minutes until the time she had agreed to meet James, Sophie headed over to the food court where various vendors had various treats, hot food and even hotter drinks. She found James holding two steaming paper cups of butterbeer and followed him to the nearest empty table.

Sophie ventured, "Professor Burbage said the muggles don't buy their groceries at markets."

"They sometimes do, although they usually get their food at a grocery store." James thoughtfully replied. "Lily made me go a few times. They used these paper notes as their money."

Sophie frowned, thinking it was rather odd that they used paper as their money. Their galleons were coated in a thin layer of goblin's gold and were worth their weight in the wizarding world. "But paper isn't worth very much."

"The paper notes have value to the muggles." James picked up the tiny paper bag that had all of the shrunken groceries inside. He tossed his paper cup into the rubbish bin. "Now, I need your opinion on some last minute gifts."

Christmas day arrived with much anticipation. They would spend the morning unwrapping presents before getting ready to visit the Tonkses for Christmas dinner. It would be the first time Sophie saw her extended family since Harry's birthday party in the summer.

Mrs Weasley had sent over her usual box of homemade fudge and some mince pies for the family. The mince pies were put in the cold box for another day, but the fudge was a welcome treat as they unwrapped their presents.

The theme for her Christmas was definitely green-and-silver. James and Sirius had gotten her a new outer robe with silver trim, matching dragon hind gloves and some Slytherin paraphernalia. Harry had gotten her a lovely set of swallow quills and a bottle of emerald green ink. She had received a green and silver knit scarf from Kitty, different bottles of charmed nail polish from Astoria and _Surviving Slytherin: The Path to Greatness _from Nephele.

They spent the rest of the morning lounging in their pyjamas and eating Christmas biscuits and sipping hot chocolate by the fire. Harry and Sirius went outside to try out Harry's new Nimbus 2001 while James enlisted Sophie's help to make breakfast. Andromeda would scold him if they showed up at her place having only eaten chocolate all day.

The relation between the Tonkses and the Potters was very small at best. Sophie supposed that they were distantly related in that way that all of the pure-blood families were. Andromeda was Sirius' cousin, and the only living family member he had remained on friendly terms with. Ted, Andromeda and Tonks were the closest thing Sophie and Harry had to an extended family. Both sets of their grandparents had died before they were born and their father did not have any siblings or cousins. She knew she had muggle relatives on her mother's side, but they had never met them.

Ted and Andromeda warmly greeted them at the door when they arrived for Christmas. There was a chorus of greetings and hugs.

"Sophie!" Andromeda cupped Sophie's face. "You're growing more beautiful than ever."

Ted hugged her, before teasing James and Sirius. "Indeed! You two will certainly have your hands full chasing off young wizards."

James grimaced, but Sirius only laughed. "That'll give me something to do in my downtime."

Nymphadora Tonks, their daughter, skidded into the entrance way, her purple socks sliding on the hardwood floor. "Happy Christmas everyone!"

"Supper's almost ready," Andromeda told them. "Just a few things – "

"I can help," Tonks cheerfully volunteered.

Andromeda looked hesitant to accept her daughter's help. "I'm sure Harry would like to hear all about your training. Sirius, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not," Sirius replied.

Ted led the remainder of them into the sitting room.

"How are your BATs going?" James asked Tonks.

Tonks pulled a face in response and James chuckled. "You'll be fine."

"Brutally Advanced Testing," James explained to Sophie and Harry. "Aurors are required to take one in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Tonks' class takes them this spring."

Sophie had briefly heard of the BATs, James and Sirius once mentioned they were taken after a two-year apprenticeship under a professional. Harry listened eagerly as Tonks explained her auror training under the infamous Alastor Moody.

"Sophie, love, could you bring us a round of butterbeers?" Ted asked.

Sophie went to fetch the butterbeers from the kitchen, when she heard someone say her name. She paused, curious what was being said about her.

"Sophie's made friends with the Greengrass girl?" Sirius ventured.

"Yes," Andromeda agreed. "Astoria is a lovely girl, I've known her since she was a child. I should have thought to introduce them sooner."

"What about the rest of the girls?" Sirius asked. "There's no reason to worry?"

_So they are worried_, Sophie thought, curious what Andromeda and Sirius thought of her friends. So far they had approved of Astoria, but there was no mention of Kitty or Nephele.

Andromeda looked thoughtful. "Thomas Penrose is always eager to advance himself, but that's true of many at the ministry. Sappho thinks his daughter seems harmless enough. I told Sappho to watch Astoria's friendship with the Rosier girl though. Regina spends too much time pandering to Mother and Narcissa after Evan's death."

"Evan Rosier?" Sirius asked. "I didn't realize he married."

"It was short, from what I gathered. It was more to have children than anything else. The Rosiers thought it was a waste of magical blood to die for the cause, but not breed for it." Andromeda snorted. "I imagine Mother was most displeased that Bellatrix never managed to find time to give birth."

"Probably for the best," shuddered Sirius.

Sophie didn't realize that Nephele knew Draco Malfoy outside of school. They didn't acknowledge each other in the common room. She definitely didn't seem like his type of friend.

She cut Sirius and Andromeda's conversation short when she decided to make her entrance into the kitchen. They quickly changed topics when Andromeda asked her what her favourite subject was so far.

The rest of the break passed by in a whirlwind of family time and Christmas visits. It felt as if Molly Weasley had filled their schedule with visits to the Burrow, although they still found time to go carolling with Remus and sledding with the McKinnons. To Sophie's joy, Astoria held up her promise of a New Years Eve sleep-over. The invite arrived the same day as the annual invites from Marlene McKinnon and Narcissa Malfoy.

"James, and Sophie, how good to see you!" Sappho Greengrass greeted them at the fireplace in their sitting room. "The girls are upstairs in Astoria's bedroom. We're just waiting for Nephele to arrive."

They had met earlier during the holiday break so that James could meet Hyperion and Sappho Greengrass before allowing Sophie to spend the night. Hyperion Greengrass was a well-groomed wizard in his mid-forties. Sappho Greengrass was a bit younger, and she looked like the quintessential pure-blood wife. She had honey-blonde hair that was artfully pulled back into an elegant twist. She was lean, not an ounce over-weight and impeccably dressed.

Only, her sapphire blue eyes often gleamed with mischief and she took great delight in hearing about all the adventures James, Sirius and Harry had experienced at Hogwarts.

There were three girls already waiting in Astoria's bedroom. Kitty leapt up from her spot on Astoria's bed and embraced Sophie in an enthusiastic hug.

"I loved the singing box, you'll have to show me the charm," Kitty gushed as she hugged Sophie.

Sophie smiled slightly, wondering what Kitty would say once she knew the truth behind the box. "It's a muggle box. I'm not actually sure how they make it sing."

Kitty looked confused, but accepted the explanation.

The other girl smiled graciously at Sophie before rising to greet her. Sophie could easily guess that this was Astoria's cousin, Laelia Farley. While her hair was more of a chestnut brown rather than the golden brown the Greengrasses shared, she had the same bright blue eyes.

"Sophie, this is my cousin, Laelia," Astoria introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Sophie politely responded. "Astoria's told us all a lot about you."

"She's talked of you all just as much," Laelia smiled. "I really wish I had been able to go with you all this year. My birthday was past the cut-off date."

Sophie knew that Astoria and her cousin were close, and that Astoria had missed Laelia a great deal over the year.

Sophie looked through the little vials of nail potion Astoria kept on her vanity. Astoria's family owned Greengrass Apothecaries and she had samples of most of their cosmetic potions. She even had her own perfume named _Astoria_ that her father made in her honour. She picked up one – a little clear coloured liquid and started painting her nails. Each one did something different to her nails – flashy colours, long-lasting colours, self-painting brushes. This one was called _Holiday_ _Cheer_ and painted on as red and green stripes.

Astoria passed around colourful witches hats decorated with 1992 in bold golden letters. The girls spent the rest of the evening stretched out on the bed rolls Astoria and Laelia had laid out. The Greengrass family house-elf, Kappa, appeared every hour to bring the girls snacks or drinks. Astoria kept the wireless on the WWN so that they would know when the countdown was happening. The celebration in Diagon Alley was being broadcasted live for everyone to hear. James and Sirius used to take her and Harry every year, until Marlene McKinnon had started hosting a party.

"We're entering the last minute of 1991," one of the hosts reminded them. He co-host started counting down the seconds. "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! – HAPPY NEW YEARS!"

* * *

><p>AN: Just a bit about some family relations, Narcissa and Andromeda's mother is Druella Rosier, giving them the connection to Nephele (Rosier). I imagine Evan (Nephele's father) was Druella's brother's son, making him Narcissa and Andromeda's cousin. Nephele and Draco are second-cousins. Nephele and Tonks are second-cousins as well.


	8. Speaking of Evil

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N: Just in case you're curious why Narcissa sends Sirius an invitation to her party despite him being disowned; she reaches out to Sirius because of his closeness to the Potters. She's trying to distance her family from the DEs in a "How can we be Death Eaters? We're good friends with the Potters!" sort of way. Unfortunately for her, Draco didn't do so well on the whole "Befriend Harry Potter at School" front and Sirius ignores any letters she sends.

I have a lot of thoughts on what's going on behind the scenes, but most of it probably won't be revealed in text until later or if at all because Sophie is not aware of it. I try to make sure every character has reasoning behind their actions. If there's anything you'd like to know, just ask and I'll put it up if it doesn't give anything away. :)

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 8: Speaking of Evil<em>**

"Bloody evil, the lot of them."

Sophie froze as she heard Ron's voice rise. Her hand trembled as she clutched the banister of the stairwell near Harry's room. They couldn't be talking about –

"I don't know why Dumbledore hasn't chucked the whole house out," Ron continued in his tirade.

A tiny gasp escaped her as she fled to her room down the hall.

She had heard Harry and Ron express that exact sentiment plenty last summer. She had always known her family despised Slytherins, despite their recent attempt to avoid saying so. Still, it hurt quite a bit to hear them say those things, and not even consider _her_.

"_Shit_," she heard Harry mumble. "Sophie!"

There was a commotion as Harry jumped up to chase after her.

"He didn't mean you." Harry tried. He shuffled awkwardly; he was rather rubbish when it came to trying to comfort her. "We know you're not like that."

"I _am_ a Slytherin, Harry." She cried. "You can't pick and choose which ones to keep if you want to toss the whole house!"

The sight of tears unnerved Harry, and he looked like he'd rather be anywhere than having his conversation. Still, he pressed on. "That's not – he didn't mean –"

"Yes he did," Sophie cried. "And you wouldn't have said anything either if you didn't get caught!"

"Sophie, you know it's not like that!"

She sniffed as she closed her door behind her, wanting to be left alone. She cried into her pillow, replaying the last few months since her sorting. She thought that they were okay, she really did. While she had given up on Elliott and Myron, she thought she could at least count on Harry and his friends. They were probably just being nice about it when she was around.

There was a rather weak attempt later when Ron knocked on her door and tried to apologize, but Sophie didn't want to hear any of it.

Conversation around supper was rather forced that night. While James and Sirius didn't know what had taken place, they could tell something wasn't right between Harry and Sophie. They must have chalked it up to a sibling feud because neither questioned it. Both Harry and Ron avoided catching Sophie's eye and she determinedly avoided theirs.

Much to Sophie's relief, Ron floo'ed home soon after supper. Only, it quickly turned to dread as she overheard Mrs Weasley talking to James from the fireplace. It seemed that they had been invited to yet another supper at the Weasleys.

"And bring Sophie," she could hear Mrs Weasley say, "The girls could use a chance to catch up!"

Wonderful, Sophie thought, another evening of forced friendship between her and Ginny Weasley. For whatever reason, their families thought the pair would become close friends and confidants. Or maybe they had hoped. So far, it wasn't working. The girls had little in common, aside from the friendship between their brothers. Mrs Weasley seemed to be hoping Ginny would befriend other little witches, like Sophie, and grow out of that 'tomboy' phase. James and Sirius liked Ginny's fiery spirit and thought maybe Sophie would play quidditch if other witches did. Sophie suspected Ginny only tolerated her because of Harry while Sophie only tolerated Ginny out of politeness.

"I'm not going." Sophie announced the next day when they were preparing to leave for the Weasleys.

They had never let her stay home alone before, not unless Harry was around. Sophie thought she was old enough anyway – Harry had been able to stay home alone after his first year and she was halfway through hers. The house was protected under heavy enchantments and the Weasleys were only a floo-call away if she needed anything.

"They're _Harry's_ friends," she tried to stress. "Harry didn't come when we went to visit Astoria's family."

That had bothered her greatly. After Harry met Ron in their first year, she had been towed along to every visit between the Potters and the Weasleys. James had been happy to befriend Molly and Arthur Weasley and their families spent a great deal of time together. It didn't seem fair that she had to be friends with Ginny while Harry didn't have to befriend Daphne or Jason.

"What about Ginny? She's close to your age – "

"You didn't make Harry befriend Jason or Daphne!" Harry made a straggled noise in his throat which only encouraged Sophie. "Because they're _Slytherins_ and Merlin forbid that Harry Potter befriends a Slytherin."

James was frowning now. "Okay, that's enough."

James and Sirius looked at each other. Sophie could almost see them deciding her fate for the evening, she had certainly overstepped some boundary. Sirius tilted his head and James gave a brief nod. Sophie suspected an unspoken agreement had passed between them when finally Sirius smiled at her.

"That's fine, I needed to stay home and finish off some reports anyway. We'll order take-away, your pick."

Sirius picked up fish and chips for the pair of them from one of the nearby villages. It was their go-to food every time the pair of them was left to get take-out. They tasted like victory, Sophie decided that night. It felt good to get her way and not have to spend the evening forcing conversation with Ginny. Although she knew Sirius was going to ask her about it.

"James and I have noticed that you haven't wanted to visit any of your old friends." Sirius causally brought up as they ate.

Sophie poked at her chips. "Ginny and I were never friends."

"What about Elliott or Myron?" He tried again. "You used to be so close."

"It's a little hard, being in different houses and all," She challenged. She didn't think it was fair that Sirius would lecture her about not abandoning friends over a Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. It took most of her restraint not to throw that into his face.

"Lily had friends in all the houses, you know. She never believed in that nonsense. Your father and I were a little more thick-headed."

She ignored the urge to ask Sirius more about her mum, feeling like she would be letting herself fall into his trap. While once she would had thought that as complete bull, what Slytherin would be friends with her muggle-born Mum? She was starting to see that Slytherin was made up of mostly students like her who didn't care about blood-purity, with a just small, but vocal, minority who thought muggles were scum like Draco Malfoy. She managed to deflect the conversation after that, and thankfully Sirius did not try to push it.

The following two days passed quickly, and before anyone was ready it was time for Harry and Sophie to go back to school. James and Sirius saw them off at the train station, making them promise to owl regularly and telling them they'd see them during the Easter holidays. While she was excited to see her friends and return to Hogwarts, being home for three weeks had reminded Sophie just how much she missed it.

Sophie easily found the compartment Astoria and Nephele were waiting in. Before long, Kitty found joined them.

"Mother's friend, Annette Crouch, passed away over the holidays." Kitty dramatically announced once she seated herself in the carriage. "It's all _anyone_ could talk about."

Nephele feigned interest as she flipped through today's copy of _The Daily Prophet_. "Because her son died in Azkaban last September?"

Kitty's head bobbled; clearly pleased with the direction they were headed. "Yes, they're saying Mrs Crouch died from grief. Her health hasn't been the best since then, nobody's seen her in public – "

Sometimes it seemed that Kitty and the others spoke a foreign language to Sophie. They spoke of other families as if they all knew them personally. Some of them Sophie even recognized, like the high-society witches who filled the tabloids in the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly. They were wizarding celebrities in their own right, right up there with pro-Quidditch players, models and musicians. But most of the time, she had never heard of the people that Kitty and the others spoke about. Her dad had kept her out of the limelight growing up and away from the elite society that revolved around wealthy pure-blood families and high-ranking ministry officials. Her friends would usually explain the more important people to Sophie.

"Should I know who the Crouches are?"

"Mr Crouch is the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation." Nephele explained. "He's a big shot at the ministry, but he hasn't been too popular since he lost his chance at Minister."

"Did you know _why_ he lost?" Kitty innocently asked. Her large brown eyes gave away just how much she was enjoying this.

Sophie hid a smile, so this was the piece that Kitty was bursting to share with them.

Astoria drifted into the conversation, having been surprisingly quiet after greeting them in the carriage. "Yes, but it's a rather terrible thing to gossip about, isn't it Kitty?"

In the months that had passed, Astoria had slowly become their leader. She was often Kitty's moral compass when it came to over-sharing other people's personal business. She softened Nephele's blunt words and was the one to encourage her to ditch the library to spend time with friends. Her guidance and advice had helped Sophie relax and enjoy her new home in Slytherin. Whenever Astoria spoke, everyone listened.

Kitty immediately changed the pace of the conversation, telling them instead about Alessia Zabini's latest engagement over Christmas and the glamorous wedding that was expected to take place in the summer. Seven was a magical number, after all.

xXxXx

Sophie retired early that evening, exhausted from the full day of travel. There was something about a long journey that always played her out and she slept like the dead afterwards. She found Astoria alone, reading in their dorm room.

"Hey," Sophie greeted as she entered the room.

Astoria greeted her in return, making small talk as Sophie prepared for bed. Sophie then laid down on her bed, petting Artemis who had suddenly decided he wanted her attention and affection.

"Is everything all right?" Sophie hesitantly asked. Astoria had been unusually quiet most of the day, even retreating earlier than Sophie.

"Oh, I'm fine," Astoria smiled in reassurance. "Just one of those contemplative days, you know?"

Sophie understood that. While Astoria and Kitty were the more bubbly members of their group, Sophie found she was the more reserved friend. As much as she tried to be social and join in their conversations, she often found herself getting lost in her own thoughts.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it, I promise I won't say anything to anyone."

Astoria looked thoughtful. Eventually she said, "Daphne and I think Jason's seeing someone. She said he disappeared the whole night at the Malfoys. Rosie spent the entire evening looking for him."

Sophie knew the hidden implication.

Astoria's siblings were both well-known around the common room for their good-looks and good-blood. She enjoyed a certain amount of privilege that came from older students trying to impress Daphne and Jason by being kind to their little sister. Among those privileges came a level of safety from Pansy's bullying. Indeed, even Sophie benefited by virtue of being Astoria's friend. So far they had been left alone, although Sophie had witnessed Pansy belittling the second years on many occasions, and even some of the fourth.

If the Parkinson family learned that Jason Greengrass had no interest in their older daughter Rosie, Pansy would no longer be forced to be friendly to Daphne and Astoria.

"Do you know who?" Sophie asked.

"No." Astoria's eyes flashed. "He's so stupid sometimes. He doesn't have to protect us from the likes of Pansy, Daphne and I would be fine. He should date whoever he likes."

It was the type of stupid and noble action Sophie would have expected from the Gryffindors. Although, Sophie wondered if older brothers were just stupid and overprotective by nature.

"Brothers are rather stupid aren't they?" Sophie asked. Even Artemis mewed as if in agreement.

"I think so, we should start a support club, 'My Brother's an Idiot'", Astoria giggled. Her mood shifted to a more sombre one. "As much as I wish I could tell him to follow his heart, I'm scared of Pansy and glad he's been protecting us. Daphne only tolerates her because it's better to be her friend than not. You should have heard the things she's done to their roommate, Tracey Davies."

"What happened to her?" Sophie shivered, wondering how the professors could let Pansy get away with such things. She had never heard a kind word said about the older girl, and it seemed like everyone was terrified of her.

"Daphne wouldn't say much. All I know is that Tracey was begging to be switched to Ravenclaw by the end of it, but Snape wouldn't hear it. So she transferred to Salem Institute after first year. Daphne's so terrified that Pansy will turn on her."

Sophie tried to imagine what would have to happen for it to get so bad that a girl would have to transfer. Her mind simply couldn't up come with anything. Romilda Vane's bullying seemed to be purely because she was a Slytherin, Sophie wondered if they had shared a dorm if Vane would have bullied her or befriended her.

"You should be careful," Astoria suddenly warned her. "I'm surprised Pansy's left you alone so far, she hates your brother."

"I've heard," Sophie wrapped her arms around her legs. "Harry told me to stay away from her. She's been bullying Hermione for years, calls her all sorts of names and makes fun of her for having muggle parents."

"I imagine she would," Astoria sympathized. "Mum said those who scream the loudest about muggle blood are often the ones hiding their own."

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><p>AN I didn't intend for this to be Weasley-bashing, I actually do like them, although I recognize they have faults. I think Ron suffers from foot-in-mouth disease and he has some heavy biases. Once I started writing them on page, I realized that Sophie and Ginny wouldn't have much in common and may not actually like each other.


	9. Slytherin versus Gryffindor

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N I'm _really_ grateful for the feedback on that last chapter! It was one that took forever to make it work. Regarding this one, I hope my interpretation of Harry is right, I find he's really hard to characterize and I can't put my finger on why.

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: Slytherin versus Gryffindor<strong>

Sophie's anger at Harry and Ron from the Christmas break didn't last long. Her feuds with Harry rarely did, and usually by the end of the week there was some silent agreement to move on.

Like Sophie, Harry was very quiet and happy to let the people around him speak. Often when it was just the two of them at home, they were content to sit in companionable silence and carry on with whatever they were doing. James and Sirius were both outspoken and filled the home with conversation, and were just a little bit confused at how they managed to raise such quiet kids.

The two year age gap that seemed extremely large the year before seemed less so now that they were both at Hogwarts. Maybe it was because they had more in common, and Harry stopped seeing her as a 'kid'. She enjoyed the change, having missed her big brother while he was away.

So she enjoyed being invited to sit with him at meals or study with him in the library. Today was one of the times he had invited her to tag along to the library after supper. Hermione _tsked_ as she read over Sophie's potions essay, making corrections as she went. Sophie preferred classes with actual wand-work, and the delicacies of potions-brewing were usually lost on her.

She handed it back to Sophie, "It's worth an E, I would think, but if you make those corrections you might be able to get an O."

"Doubt it," Sophie shrugged. "Snape hasn't given me one yet, but thank you. This should stop him from giving me an A again."

She glanced down at her paper in frustration. No matter how hard she worked or who helped her revise her paper, Snape had never given her any higher than an E. Astoria was an ace at potions, often getting an O herself, and even she couldn't help Sophie get higher than an E. She was tempted to ask Astoria to switch names and see if maybe Snape was just bias.

"That first year keeps staring at us," Harry uncomfortably told them. "Do you know her?"

Her brother usually attracted curious looks, but Sophie thought the students at Hogwarts would be used to him by now. She glanced out of the corner of her eye to see who Harry indicated.

Romilda looked positively sour that Sophie was sitting with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Sophie almost wanted to wave and invite her over.

"Oh, that's Romilda Vane. She doesn't like me much." Sophie shrugged. "If it were up to her I wouldn't be allowed to talk to anyone in Gryffindor, I think. She takes the house thing very seriously so she's probably pissed that I'm sitting with you."

She was tired of playing nice and trying to deal with Romilda and her friends on her own. She knew Harry would immediately go into defensive brother mood and she wanted a Gryffindor to actually defend her for once rather than let their housemate walk all over her.

Sure enough, Harry's face settled into a frown as he regarded Romilda. The easiest way to get into Harry's bad books was to upset his little sister. Sophie was a little surprised that Ron came to her defence as well, glaring at Romilda just as much as Harry did. She supposed she had been adopted as a little sister-of-sorts.

Romilda stiffened and quickly returned to her work, embarrassed that she had been caught.

"Calm down, the pair of you," Hermione hissed. A little more kindly, she asked, "Sophie, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure. She's always telling me to go back and sit with Slytherin and makes fun of me whenever I try to speak with Elliott or Myron." Sophie miserably explained. "I don't know why either. She has since we started and I didn't do anything at first but try to be her friend."

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked. When she was met with three blank stares, she sighed. "Bullies like Romilda are jealous. She wants to drive you away because she's intimidated by you."

"How do you know all this?" Ron asked.

Hermione smiled sadly, "Because the girls in my primary school were intimidated by me too."

Long after Sophie left the library and returned to Slytherin for the evening, Hermione's words stayed with her. She felt sorry that the older girl had experienced bullying in primary school, although she couldn't say she was too surprised. Even in Hogwarts a lot of people seemed either intimidated by Hermione's intelligence or annoyed by it. She had gotten to know Hermione a little over the years when she'd visit in the summers. Sometimes she'd stay overnight and James would put Hermione in Sophie's room those nights and the girls would have a sleepover. Hermione could be a little off-putting, but she was well meaning.

She was also usually right.

Sophie wondered about what Hermione said about Romilda being jealous of _her_. She couldn't really think of any reason why. Romilda had been sorted into the house Sophie wanted to be in, and had the complete attention of her old friends these days.

Artemis stretched out on her lap, rubbing himself against her hands as he demanded attention. Sophie happily obliged. "You're awfully cuddly tonight," she told him as she scratched behind his ear.

Artemis closed his yellow eyes in contentment and purred. Sometimes he could be a nice cat. Most of the time he wasn't.

Artemis did not get along with any of the cats in Slytherin. Back in September, he'd often come back to her looking like he had been on the losing side of a fight. He'd have scratch marks, bite marks and tuffs of fur sticking up. Not that Sophie had any delusions that Artemis was the poor little victim in any of this. He usually started them.

His favourite target was a prissy, white Persian cat named Duchess who Sophie believed belonged to one of the Parkinson sisters. Artemis would hide under couches or armchairs, waiting for her to walk by before snaking his arm out and grabbing her tail. He seemed to enjoy the hissy fit that happened next. He absolutely hated Salazar, the common room's kneazle. Although the pair had managed to come to some form of a truce over the months and now avoided each other.

Usually she kept him in her room, but she allowed him to roam around the common room as a 'treat' when she was there.

The door to the common room opened and Jason and Fiona walked inside, just after their prefect patrols. Seizing his chance, Artemis jumped off her lap and darted out of the room.

Sophie abandoned her spot in front of the fire to run after him and try to catch him.

Jason caught her just as she made it to the door. "Sophie, I can't let you go out there this time of night."

"But my cat," she pleaded. "He doesn't get along with others, I don't want him to get beat up!"

Fiona looked at her wrist watch before sharing a glance with her fellow prefect. "There's a few minutes before our patrols are done. We did finish early."

"I'll take her," Jason volunteered. "But we have to be back by eleven, clear?"

Sophie nodded, thanking him for helping her find Artemis.

Jason led her down the corridor of the dungeon, his wand lighting up the area so that they could see clearly. Sophie shivered, the common room was kept warm in the winter months with two roaring fires and heating charms, but out here was an entirely different story. Luckily, it didn't take long to find Artemis as he hadn't gotten very far. He kept pouncing at a little hole in the wall, hissing and swiping his paw in as far as he could.

"Artemis, Artemis, come here!" Sophie called. When he didn't listen to her, she intervened and picked him up. Artemis hissed and struggled in her arms, almost causing Sophie to drop him.

Jason knelt down and peered into the hole.

"Sophie, hang on, there's a rat," Jason said, his face going white. Quickly, he fired off a jet of red sparks that disappeared down the corridors. "Get back, a professor will be on their way."

The rat in question darted out of the hole the moment Jason stood up, disappearing down the corridor. Jason fired off a few stunning spells after it, but the target was too small and moving too fast. She tried to chase after it, but Jason quickly grabbed onto her arm, preventing her from getting far. "Let go, he's getting away!"

He twisted her to look at him. "I'm not letting you chase after him, if that really is Pettigrew he's dangerous and beyond anything _either_ of us can handle. My job's to make sure you stay safe until a professor gets here."

Sophie relented, knowing that Jason was right. Pettigrew was a dangerous criminal, and there wasn't much a first and fifth year could do against him. She had heard all the rumours after Halloween, when he was first discovered at Hogwarts. People were whispering that he killed thirteen muggles with a single curse and blew up a street somewhere in muggle London.

Professor Sprout arrived a few minutes later, slightly out of breath. "Came as soon I saw the sparks," she huffed, her hand clutched just above her breast. "Flitwick's on his way. Now, where is he?"

Jason explained how they came upon a rat trapped in a hole and how it ran away.

Sprout knelt down to peer into the mouse hole. "It looks rather shallow, but I'll ask Filch to look into it and maybe fill it in. I don't think we'll be catching that rat tonight. It's very possible that it's just a rat, honestly, the aurors would have us frightened over every little creature. Now, Mr Greengrass why don't you escort Ms Potter back to the dormitory. Oh, and five points each, for acting responsibly and summoning a professor."

The next day, Sophie noticed that a rather ill-tempered Filch was trying to fill in all of the potential mouse-holes that Pettigrew could be hiding in or using to travel around. He kept grumbling at how ridiculous it was, and yelling at any students he caught staring at him. Although they never managed to catch Pettigrew, and people began to speculate that he was living in the forest or hiding in Hogsmeade.

The rest of the term passed surprisingly fast, and with it spring began to creep up. Sophie opted to go home for the Easter holidays, but found she was much too busy with the mountain of homework to enjoy them. The professors eased up on the homework the week after they returned to school, if only because the final Quidditch match was that Saturday and they wanted the students to be free to attend and celebrate afterwards.

"I know he's your brother, but you can't not cheer for your own house!" Nephele protested as they walked up the pathway to the Quidditch pitch.

It was the match that Sophie had been dreading, made even bigger by the fact that the winner would determine if Gryffindor or Slytherin took home the Quidditch Cup. While Sophie wanted to cheer for her house team, she didn't particularly _like_ anyone on it. The boys were all large upper years who resembled thugs and thought being able to stay upright on a broom made them something special. The worst was their seeker, Draco Malfoy, who walked around the Slytherin common room as if he owned the place.

Pansy had been sickening all morning, throwing herself all over Draco at breakfast, playing with his hair and telling him he couldn't lose against _Potter_ and he was just the best seeker Slytherin had had in decades. It was enough to make Sophie duck into her oatmeal and giggle. Luckily, only Astoria and Nephele caught her.

Astoria had rolled her eyes and giggled too, but Nephele was now after her what team she would be supporting.

"Since when are you Miss House Spirit?" Sophie asked. Nephele was rarely this enthusiastic about anything. Although, she seemed to be rather competitive, especially when it came to marks and house points. Sophie wondered if the Quidditch Cup was just one of those things.

"Well, some things happen to be important to me," Nephele scuffed. "Like Quidditch teams. My _main_ team's the Falmouth Falcons, but while we're in Hogwarts it seems right to support your house team."

Kitty cheerfully added, "Just think of the after party when Slytherin wins the cup! Wouldn't that be exciting? My sister said they last all night! Even the first years are allowed to stay up past curfew!"

"I don't know," Astoria intervened as she adjusted her scarf. "I'd cheer for Jason or Daphne over my own house. It just happens we're all in Slytherin together. Family's more important than house rivalries anyway."

Among Slytherins, it seemed that family was valued highly and considered above house matters, so that quickly ended any badgering.

"You do know anyone on the team?" Sophie curiously asked.

Nephele sighed, "Not really, no. Well, except Draco, he's my second cousin."

Sophie could recall Andromeda telling Sirius over the break that Nephele's mother knew Narcissa Malfoy. So this was how.

"Mrs Malfoy's mother was a Rosier," piped in Kitty, their ever-reliable source on everyone in the wizarding world and their cousin. "Before she married into the Blacks."

"What she said," Nephele faintly agreed. "We don't really see that side of the family often, so Draco and I aren't that close."

They were getting closer to a topic that Nephele rarely talked about; her family. Sophie only knew that she lived with her mother somewhere in Norfolk and that she was an only child. It seemed that Nephele had reached the limits to what she was willing to discuss, and immediately asked them what their Quidditch teams were.

"Caerphilly Catapults," Sophie responded. "It would be impossible to live with my Dad and Sirius otherwise."

"Holyhead Harpies, so I suppose we're rivals then," Astoria joked. The two Welsh teams had a long-standing rivalry in the league.

"I don't really pay attention," Kitty admitted. "But there's this chaser for Kenmare right now who's just _divine_, so I think I'll choose them."

Sophie and Astoria giggled, but Nephele only shook her head, as if exasperated that one would choose their team based on appearance.

It was the perfect day for a Quidditch match. It was sunny, with a slight breeze and Sophie could get away with just a light outer robe in the mid-April weather. She had her green-and-silver Slytherin scarf as she was sitting in the stands with her friends, but she had also pinned a red-and-gold POTTER badge on her jumper, just hidden behind the scarf. It seemed that most of the school would be routing for Gryffindor this match, as about three-quarters of the stands were decked out in red-and-gold and had banners with "GO GRYFFINDOR" or "GRYFFINDOR FOR GOLD, SLYTHERIN FOR SILVER" waving in the stands.

"This way," Astoria laughed, ushering them down a row of benches near some fifth years. "You _really_ don't want to be anywhere near Pansy when Harry gets the snitch before Draco. Especially with that badge."

Nephele shook her head in disbelief at what she was hearing. "No loyalty, either of you! Ohh, wait we'll get a good view here, right behind the Slytherin goalposts too." Nephele then hastily added, "_Not _that there will be many goals made. Most of the game will end up near the Gryffindor side."

It was some twenty minutes later that the Gryffindor appeared on the field, ready to kick off and start the game. Lee Jordan announced each of their names as the launched into the air and did a lap around the pitch. Slytherin soon appeared as well. "And here comes the Slytherin team, lead by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the line-up and seems to be going for size than skill - "

It was rather boring, in Sophie's opinion. There was only so much she could take of watching players zoom around on their brooms and throw the quaffle around. She kept half an eye on the game, in case a rogue bludger came too close to the stands. Luckily, Nephele was the only one of them who really cared about the game, so she was able to talk to Astoria and Kitty through most of it.

"SHE SCORES!" Lee Jordan triumphantly announced to the crowds. "GRYFFINDOR LEADS BY EIGHTY-TWENTY!"

"That's not good, if Gryffindor gets the snitch now they'll win the cup as well as the match," Nephele remarked. Her grey eyes were hardly blinking as she watched the game.

"No faith in Malfoy?" Sophie teased.

Nephele grumbled, "Not with his track record."

Sophie eagerly scanned the sky for where her brother was flying. Draco seemed to hover close behind him, ready to take off the moment Harry spotted the snitch. With both flying a Nimbus 2001, it could be a win for either. Suddenly, both boys pulled into a dive, urging their brooms to go faster as they sped towards the snitch. A hush fell over the entire crowd as they waited for the winner to be determined. Both Harry and Draco were shoulder to shoulder, knocking against each other as they flew. Harry flung himself forward, his right hand reaching in front of him and curling around the snitch. He pulled out of the dive, fist in the air with the fluttering golden snitch clasped tightly within it. Almost the entire stands were on their feet in applause.

"POTTER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Lee bellowed into his microphone. "GRYFFINDOR WINS THE CUP!"

Harry landed on the ground, but it was long before he was accompanied by the rest of the Gryffindor team. The Weasley twins hoisted him over their shoulders and twirled around. The Gryffindor stands emptied out onto the field and everyone rushed over to congratulate the players.

Sophie smiled softly, wishing she could join the Gryffindors in their celebration.


	10. Lost and Found

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N Small reminder, I changed the courses (see chapter 3 for specifics). So the first years have ten courses they take year-round (English, Math, Theory of Magic, Wizarding Society and Muggle Culture have replaced Astronomy and History of Magic for years 1 and 2)

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: Lost and Found<strong>

The end of the term was rapidly approaching and with it came exam revisions.

Sophie spent the bulk of her study time outdoors with Kitty and Astoria, studying under one of the a large willow trees on the ground. She suspected they had been planted for this very purpose as there were a great number of them in isolated spots, and there were always groups of students sitting underneath them. It was much nicer than locking themselves up in the library, like Lyssa had done, or in their dorms, like Nephele had done.

The final exams were only worth ten percent of the overall mark for the first years, although you had to get at least an 'acceptable' to pass the course. If you failed a course, you'd have to take a remedial course in the fall, and if you failed too many they'd make you repeat the entire year. Sophie wasn't too worried about her exams, she hadn't had a mark below an 'acceptable' all year, and even that had been in Potions when Professor Snape was in a particularly nasty mood. Still, she put in a decent effort, wanting to bring home good marks after her first year.

Kitty laid down beside them, picking at the grass. "I don't see why we have to bother, didn't Dumbledore cancel them last year?"

"They probably want us to practice writing exams before we take our OWLs," Astoria replied. She tapped her quill against her Transfiguration notebook as she scanned the page. "Jason said the OWLs are the only thing they look at for your fifth year. Everything else is just preparing for them."

Sophie closed her eyes and tried to recite the twelve steps to preparing a Pain-Numbing Draught from memory. Snape had given them a list of three potions to review, saying he would pick one of them for the practical portion of the exam that they would have to prepare without any instructions. She got stuck on the seventh step and had to open her eyes and look at the textbook again.

She sighed, "I don't even want to think about OWLs. I have to do well in everything if I want to get accepted into the Healer Academy."

She needed Outstanding NEWTs in Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Charms and three other electives to get accepted. It was a very difficult and very competitive process. A small class of twelve was only chosen every four years, and out of those only half would make it to completion and become certified healers.

"Is that want you want to do after?" Astoria asked.

"I think so, what are you going to do?"

Sophie's Dad was a healer and it seemed like a smart, respectable career. She wasn't sure she wanted to work in some department at the ministry and had no idea what she would do otherwise. Most of the adult witches Sophie knew had stayed home and raised their children, like Molly Weasley and Andromeda Tonks, but she didn't think that was for her. Only Marlene McKinnon had a job, but it was a rather boring one in Diagon Alley where she sold advertising space for the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly.

"Well, I have the family business. I can be an apothecary like Dad and help create potions," she thoughtfully replied. "He's got three shops now, so he might give us each one to manage after he retires. I have to do well in Potions and Herbology though."

There was no doubt that Astoria would do well in those subjects, they were her best ones. Sophie wondered if maybe that came from growing up in that business. Some people in the wizarding world even believed that a talent for certain subjects ran in the family.

"I don't have to work," Kitty lazily replied. She was on her back now and had her arms under her head as she looked at the sky. "So I don't really care. Although Daddy expects me to do well enough that I don't fail anything. That would be an embarrassment."

Kitty was usually average in all of their classes, although she had a particularly good memory for events and people in Wizarding Society. Sometimes Sophie wondered how good Kitty would be if she put in the effort in all of her classes.

"You might want to study then," Astoria encouraged her. "Another ten minutes and we'll take a break."

Before long, the end of May had passed and the first week of June was on them. As luck would have it, the first years took ten classes, and had an exam in the morning and afternoon each day. All of the classes had an hour long theoretical exam, while a few had a small practical component with it as well. Remus had designed a series of tasks to complete in a classroom, Flitwick had them make a make a tea-kettle sing, and Snape had made them brew a Forgetfulness potion.

Professor McGonagall's exam Thursday afternoon was Sophie's favourite by far. Along with the written portion, each student was given a little mouse in a cage. They had to turn the mouse into a tea-cup. There were points awarded for the quality of the tea-cup and if it had a pretty pattern, while points were deducted if it still had a tail or whiskers.

Sophie transfigured hers into a white cup with royal blue trim and a pretty pattern of royal blue flowers in the centre.

McGonagall's mouth curved upwards into a smile when she came by to inspect it. "Excellent work, Ms Potter. Full marks."

Sophie beamed as she handed in her parchment with her essay question on it, feeling that she just received an Outstanding in that class. Outside the classroom, she caught up with her friends.

"How did you do?" Nephele asked them. She always wanted to compare answers and discuss the exam afterwards, much to everyone else's anxiety. "I don't think McGonagall thought my teacup was _pretty_ enough, but that's subjective, isn't it?"

"I don't think she'll dock too many points if she didn't think it was pretty," Astoria replied. "Mine was nice, although it was still a bit fuzzy on the bottom. I don't think she noticed though."

"Mine still had a _tail_," Kitty whined. "I had to make it curl up like a handle, but it was so ugly."

"McGonagall said I had full marks for mine," Sophie couldn't help but brag a little. They all knew Transfiguration was her best subject, so it wasn't much of a surprise. Besides, Nephele probably had them all beat overall, and probably killed the theoretical portion of the exam. She was aiming to be ranked first among their year.

"No surprise there," Astoria teased, "I don't think you can do wrong in that class."

The girls made their way to the Great Hall for an early supper. It seemed that the rest of the Slytherin first years were already at the table when they joined. Sophie loaded her plate with mashed potatoes, some chicken and carrots, feeling famished after a long day of studying and exams. Around her, she could hear her year mates talk about the transfiguration exam that had just happened, and complain about the upcoming exams the next day. Sophie tuned out Nephele's argument with Zephyr Selwyn about one of the Fundamental Transfiguration Laws. It seemed that those two were always in disagreement over something. Lyssa finished her supper quickly, leaving for the library faster than her empty plate had vanished.

"What's everyone doing now?" Kitty asked once they were done eating.

"I have some Theory left to revise," said Nephele. "I'll probably be up in the dorm doing that."

"I think I need to see the plants one more time," Sophie frowned. There was a couple of flowers she still messed up when identifying. "Professor Sprout said she'd leave Greenhouse One open until curfew if we wanted to take a look at them again."

"Mind if I join?" Astoria asked. "It's too nice outside to go back to the common room."

"Sure, you can help."

With that the girls separated, Nephele going back to the common room and, Astoria and Sophie venturing outside to the greenhouses. Kitty seemed disappointed that they were all planning on doing more studying. So she decided to tag along with Jasper Peasegood, Blaine Manderly and Tristan Lafarge. A group of Slytherin first years who had decided that they had enough of studying for the day as well.

The nice weather had persisted so far, and Astoria was right that it was too nice to go back to their common room, which felt so cold and dark in comparison. Astoria and Sophie joined the small cluster of Hufflepuff first students in the greenhouse, looking over the different plants that Sprout had shown them over the year.

"In Daphne's year, they had to prune a Futterby bush," Astoria informed her. Astoria's finger gently brushed over the petals of one of the pink flowers on display. "And Jason said his year had to transplant a Bouncing Bulb. It'll be just something simple to demonstrate our technique."

"That shouldn't be too bad," Sophie agreed. She covered the name of a white flower with six petals and muttered, 'asphodel', then removed her hand to see if she was right. "It's all the plant identification I need to practice more. They all look the same after a while."

The girls practised a little, taking turns covering the names of the plants and getting the other to say them. After a while, they got distracted and conversation turned to plans for the upcoming summer holidays. Hogwarts let out in the middle of June, giving them about ten weeks to enjoy.

"We own a villa on Ithaca and usually go there for part of the summer," Astoria was saying, "What do you think you'll do?"

"I have a pretty good idea," Sophie rolled her eyes. "The World Cup's in England this summer, so Dad's probably going to get tickets for that."

She knew she should be thrilled for that. Many witches and wizards would give their wand-arm to be able to attend. But Sophie had never been a really big Quidditch fan and it got tiring being dragged to every Caerphilly Catapults game or having their family holidays be Quidditch-themed every year.

"I could ask Mum if you could come with us," Astoria suggested.

"Really?" Sophie grew excited. She had never had a friend invite her on holiday before. "Your parents wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all! Sometimes Jason or Daphne's friends come for a weekend or so," Astoria happily told her. "It's much more fun with a friend. Mum and Dad just do their thing, and usually Daphne had Pansy or Portia with her. I could show you the island, and we can go swimming, and - Oh! and Mum could take us into Athens one day."

"I'd like that, it might take some convincing for my Dad to let me though. He's really strict."

Astoria stayed with her for about an hour, the girls having gone through all the plants that Professor Sprout had covered during the year. Astoria helped give Sophie some tricks to more easily remember which was which.

"I think I'm going to head back and see if Nephele could explain Pennifold's Principle one more time."

Sophie nodded, "I'm just going to stay here. See if I can get this on my own."

"Don't stay too long," Astoria teased her. "Slytherin can't afford to lose any points if we want to win the Cup."

With that, Astoria left her alone in the greenhouse with the Hufflepuff first years. It wasn't long before they too decided to head back. Curfew for the younger years was eight o'clock on the week nights and it was nearly seven. Feeling uncomfortable that she was alone in the greenhouse, Sophie decided it might be time for her to head back to the castle.

When Sophie exited the greenhouse, she could see someone lurking on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Her heart skipped a beat as she tightly gripped her wand. The person looked up, and Sophie was relieved to see a familiar, friendly face.

"Neville?" She asked.

"Sophie!" The older boy cheerfully responded. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just finishing up in the greenhouse," she explained. "I've got Herbology tomorrow. What are you doing?"

Neville's face crumbled a bit, "I lost my wand after the Defence exam. I thought I must have dropped it, but Professor Lupin said he didn't see it when he took down the course."

"I could help you look for it," she kindly offered.

It seemed that whatever good genes the Longbottoms possessed had skipped over Neville and had been given to Elliott. They looked like brothers, with similar features, although Neville was chubbier than Elliott and much more awkward. He also seemed to have the worst luck in the wizarding world. Still, their families had been friends forever and Neville had never been anything but kind to Sophie.

Neville thanked her, stumbling over his words with the explanation. He had run out of the Defence Against the Dark Arts obstacle course when a boggart had frightened him. He didn't realize until supper time that he must have dropped his wand. "Gran will kill me if I don't get that back," he miserably told her. "That was my Dad's wand."

Sophie tried to reassure him that they'd find it, or it would turn up somewhere. Everyone at Hogwarts knew how important a wand was to a witch or wizard and it would be returned to a professor the moment it was found.

"Looking for this?" A new voice behind them asked.

Sophie and Neville spun around, finding a strange man holding Neville's hand. He had a bit of a hunch to his back, and his straw-yellow hair was thinning at the top. He looked ugly, in Sophie's opinion, and had an untrustworthy air about him. Instinctively, Sophie took a step back.

Neville nervously swallowed. He reached out his hand. "Yes, thank you, that's mine."

The man didn't give the wand back to Neville though. He twirled it around in his hands, inspecting it.

"This was Frank's wand," The man murmured, before looking at Neville.

"That's right," Neville nodded. "It was my Dad's. I thought my Gran was going to kill me for losing it."

Still, the man didn't hand Neville the wand. Sophie's heart was hammering, frightened at what was going on. She didn't like that there was some stranger on school grounds so close to the Forbidden Forest. She didn't want to think that this could possibly be Peter Pettigrew, but there was no other explanation.

"I'll be keeping this for now, I-I think," the wizard said, turning the wand on its former owner and Sophie. "I'm doing you a favour, really. A boy should have his own wand, much more reliable. I'll - er - also be taking the girl."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Sophie blurted out. She felt Neville grab onto her lower arm, as if he could prevent her from being taken anywhere.

"You'll be coming, and quietly if you know what's good for the both of you," he warned. His voice then came out in a squeak. "I - I killed thirteen muggles! Two kids isn't that - isn't that hard!"

Sophie started to scream as loud as she could. A flock of birds were startled and flew out of the tree above her. Maybe if she screamed loud enough Hagrid or Professor Sprout would be close by and come investigate. She wished she knew the spell Jason had used to summon a professor.

"_Silencio_!" Pettigrew looked much more relieved now that Sophie wasn't screaming. Her mouth was still open and her throat hurt as if she were, but she couldn't make any sound. He directed the next bit to Neville. "You'll be going back to the castle. Owl James Potter that Peter Pettigrew needs to talk to him, there's been a - a _misunderstanding_. You know the Potters?"

Neville's face had turned white, but he faintly nodded.

"Good boy, don't worry about Sophie here. She'll be safe with me." Pettigrew kept the wand pointed at the pair of them the entire time he spoke. "But, er, tell him to keep Sirius Black out of things. It gets messy when he's involved."

Sophie fidgeted, terrified of being a captive to Pettigrew. He wasn't going to _hurt_ her was he? He had just bragged that he had killed thirteen muggles and that a pair of kids would be no problem. Neville couldn't leave her alone with him!

"Go on now," Pettigrew told Neville, "Back to the castle. No - no professors and no aurors!"

Sophie couldn't say anything, she felt her eyes misting with tears when she realized Neville was going to leave her alone with Pettigrew. Neville seemed to understand her distress as he tried to reassure her. "I'll get your Dad, okay Sophie? He - he'll fix this, okay? I promise, just be brave and he'll come and get you."

She gave a shaky nod, suddenly wanting her Dad very badly. He and Sirius would never let anything bad happen to her. With that, Neville ran surprisingly fast back to the castle, leaving Sophie behind with Pettigrew. Pettigrew looked uncertainly at her. "We should go into the forest, don't want to get caught before James gets here."

She didn't want to go anywhere with him, and certainly not into the forest. She wasn't sure she'd come out again. Considering her options, Sophie knew there was only one she could do. While she still had her wand, she was voiceless and non-verbal spells were way beyond what she could do. Especially against a full trained wizard.

So Sophie bolted.

She ran blindly away from the forest, as fast as her legs would carry her, in the direction of the castle. Within seconds, a spell hit her from behind, causing her vision to go black.


	11. Only the Innocent Live

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: Only the Innocent Live<strong>

When the spell wore off and Sophie came to, she found herself laying on a dirty old mattress, her body stiff and magically bound. She tried to scream, but found her voice simply couldn't make any noise. She was facing a wall and couldn't turn herself around, despite how much she struggled.

Her captor hovered over her. "Oh, you're up. You had a bit of a fall, nothing major. I - I vanished the blood. Looked worse than it was." He seemed oddly nervous for a dark wizard, and seemed to be trying to reassure the both of them at once. "Didn't want James to get the wrong impression."

He pulled her into a sitting position and Sophie was able to make out that they were in a small, dingy bedroom. Her eyes quickly looking around. They were the only part of her that could freely move. The furniture was all destroyed and the curtains were fraying and even ripped in some places. On top of the dresser was her wand, far out of her reach. This must have been his hide-out all those months. She wondered where it was. Possibly somewhere in Hogsmeade? Although, honestly she had no idea how long she had been knocked out for. It could have been anywhere from minutes to days. She could be anywhere.

Pettigrew mumbled some spells, unfreezing her body so that she could move a little. Her wrists were still stuck together, as were her legs. She tried to ask where they were, but realized how hopeless it was when her lips moved and no sound came out.

Noticing her frustration, Pettigrew offered to remove the spell. "I'm not going to hurt you, you just have to promise not to scream, okay?"

The moment the spell was lifted, Sophie screamed. She could feel the strings of her vocal cords strain, and her voice crack, but she kept screaming, hoping _someone_ would hear.

Pettigrew winced, brandishing Nevile's wand at her. Immediately her scream cut out, despite her best efforts. "I told you not to do that."

She could feel her eyes start to water and her chin start to quiver. This was too much for her, she wanted her dad to come save her. She wanted to go home. Tears started streaming down her face, accompanied by silent sobs. That seemed to alarm Pettigrew just as much as her screaming did. He tried to comfort her, although that only upset her more.

"I think the Longbottom boy - Neville wasn't it? - he'll do as I say. Your dad will be here soon and we'll get this whole mess sorted out. Nice boy, reminds me of his mother," said Pettigrew. He awkwardly patted her shoulder, and Sophie tried to twist it away from him, feeling dirty where he touched her. "I - I know you must be frightened right now, but I promise I'm not the person they make me out to be. I'm not a murderer!"

She didn't want to hear his lies. She had heard the rumours. He blew up a muggle street and killed thirteen muggles when Sirius tracked him down for a crime he committed as a Death Eater. Whatever the original crime had been must have paled in comparison because that explosion was all any would talk about. She could only imagine how many people Pettigrew must have murdered before that. Everyone said he was Voldemort's right-hand wizard.

"D-did you know I'm your godfather?" Pettigrew suddenly asked. "I promised James and Lily to look out for you, and I'm a wizard of my word. Nothing will happen to you. You're just here to make James listen, that's all."

Sophie shook her head. That wasn't possible! Sirius was her godfather. Her parents would never have befriended a Death Eater! Pettigrew was lying, he was lying about everything and he was going to kill her, she hysterically thought.

Behind Pettigrew, Sophie noticed the door to the room slowly creep open. Hope bubbled up in her chest, and she nearly jerked her head up to get a better look. But in a moment of clarity, she decided she needed to keep herself in control and distract Pettigrew for whoever was on the other side of that door.

So she promptly let loose with another round of sobbing, unnerving Pettigrew as he tried to shush her.

"_EXPELLIAMUS_!" Pettigrew's stolen wand flew into an outstretched hand in the doorway.

The door then burst open, revealing Harry, Ron and Hermione. They looked slightly battered, and had some cuts and scratches on them, but Sophie had never been more happy to see them. She was saved!

Pettigrew's mouth fell open and he slowly backed away from the three wands that were aimed at him. Sophie noticed that his eyes darted towards her wand on the other side of the room, considering if he could make a move without provoking a reaction from the three teens. Pettigrew might be the adult, but he seemed to know that being wandless against three teenagers put him at a serve disadvantage.

She jerked her head, nodding to the wand in hopes that one of them would notice it. Hermione rushed over and undid the jinx that kept Sophie from moving her arms and legs. She also undid the Silencing Spell so that Sophie could speak again. "He's got another wand!" She immediately started screaming, "On the dresser!"

There was a bit of a scuffle as Harry and Pettigrew both raced for where her ebony wand sat on the top of the dresser. Ron tackled Pettigrew to the ground so that Harry was able to get her wand and toss it to her.

Harry had a much darker expression on his face than Sophie had ever seen before, and he was staring intently at Pettigrew.

"Harry - " Hermione softly said. "Let's get Sophie to the castle. Let the professors handle him."

Harry ignored her. "I remember you," he said quietly to Pettigrew. "You were friends with Dad."

Sophie heard herself gasp. If Pettigrew wasn't lying about knowing their parents, was it possible he was honest about everything else? She felt confused, listening to the exchange taking place.

"I heard the professors talking, they said you betrayed our parents. They said that you told Voldemort where to find us. I want to know _why_."

"You don't know the whole story - " Pettigrew pleaded. "I never meant - "

"Kinda hard to let something like that slip out, isn't it?" Harry sneered. "Having a casual conversation with your Death Eaters pals and the location just happened to come up?"

"It wasn't like that!" Pettigrew pleaded. "I _saved_ you! I came by the day before, the sweets in my pocket had the Dragon Pox virus. You were - you were supposed to be in the hospital when he came. I - I was a _spy_, and I had to give him something or he was going to kill me! So I tried to get you out of the house before I gave him the location."

It sounded vaguely familiar to Sophie. Remus had said that she and James were at St Mungo's the day her mum was killed.

Hermione shook her head, "That can't be. You would have told Mr Potter what you were doing, you would have set up a decoy. What you did - you _wanted_ someone to be home, or else he would have known you lied."

"You don't understand - " Pettigrew tried to explain. He took a step towards Hermione and Sophie.

"_Petrificus totalus_!" Ron quickly hit Pettigrew with a Full Body-Bind. His entire body went stiff, as if made of ice, and he crashed to the floor. His eyes were wide and moving around frantically.

"What are we going to do with him?" Sophie asked.

"We could leave him," Harry suggested. "Send one of the professors back."

Hermione shook her head, "The jinx might wear off by the time they find him, or he might know how to undo it without a wand."

"We can't risk him getting away," Ron grimly replied. His eyes flickered from Harry to Sophie.

"Where's Dad?" Sophie asked. "Neville was supposed to owl him. If he's on his way he'll be looking for me."

Hermione looked at her wrist watch. "It's almost nine, Mr Potter should have been contacted by now. It's been about two hours?"

"We'll take him up to the castle," Harry decided. "Remus can floo Sirius to arrest him."

Ron undid the Full Body-Bind Curse and then Hermione quickly bound Pettigrew's wrists together with some Arm-Locking Jinx. They left the tiny room that Pettigrew had used to hold Sophie captive. Hermione lead the way, with Pettigrew following her, Ron behind him pointing his wand at Pettigrew's back, and the Potter siblings bringing up the rear.

"How did you find me?" Sophie asked, looking around the tunnel. She still wasn't sure where Pettigrew had taken her, but it must have been someone on the school grounds.

"Sirius told me they used to hang out in the shack under the Whomping Willow," Harry explained. "I figured it was where Pettigrew would take you if he knew about it too."

Impulsively, she threw herself at Harry, hugging him around the middle and crying. "Thank you, thank you for saving me!"

She knew she was lucky to have Harry as her big brother, and was grateful that he had come to her rescue.

"It's okay," Harry murmured, comforting her for a moment. "Now why don't we catch up to the others?"

The five of them slowly made their way out onto the grounds. It was slow moving since Pettigrew's arms were stuck together and he seemed to have poor balance without them. Twice he crashed to the ground, with nothing to block the fall.

Once outside, Sophie could see that not much time had passed. The sun was still in the sky, although it was starting to set. She could make out someone briskly walking towards them from the castle. She felt herself smile when she saw who it was.

"Remus!" Sophie called out, "Remus over here!"

"Sophie? Is everything all right? You were supposed to be inside an hour ago!" Remus lectured them. "Harry? What are you doing - " The question died on Remus' lips the moment he saw their fifth member. "_Peter_?"

"Hello Remus," Peter nervously greeted.

Remus aimed his wand right at Pettigrew's chest. Sophie quickly stepped away, relieved that an adult was finally here to handle the situation.

Harry coldly informed Remus, "He had Sophie in the shrieking shack, Neville told us he wanted to ransom her back to Dad!"

"I'm not surprised," Remus glared at Pettigrew. "He's tried to do it before. Force James to take an Unbreakable Vow to let the charges drop against him, in exchange for Sophie's life."

Her blood felt like it went ice cold at that announcement. How come no one told her? She remembered James warning her that Pettigrew might try to use her to lure Harry, but he hadn't mentioned _this_.

Pettigrew venomously denied that. "I would never _kill_ her! I don't kill innocent - "

Sophie didn't believe him now, wondering what he would say if he could still use her as a bargaining chip and wasn't pleading for his life right now. She shivered, partly from horror and partly from the cold. It was starting to get dark as the sun dipped lower, and it was colder outside than it had been earlier.

"You killed thirteen innocent muggles! Your information lead to the deaths of countless Order members and their families!" Remus yelled, losing his usually calm demeanour. "Your information lead to Lily's death and damn near lead to Harry's! Don't you _dare_ tell me you don't kill innocents! You didn't raise the wand, but your hands are just as filthy!"

"I had no choice!" Pettigrew hysterically explained. "He would have slaughtered hundreds of innocents because they were there, but I made sure they weren't! I gave him information, but I always made sure the innocent lived! I- I saved Marlene and her children. He wanted the whole family, but I convinced him to just kill Patrick!" He was looking at Sophie now. "Lily - Lily would have understood. She died so her children could - "

"Don't you dare!" Remus thundered. "Don't you dare try to justify betraying Lily and James!"

"It's what any parent would have done! James - " Pettigrew ploughed on. "James would have done the same! Lily wouldn't have chosen her life over her children."

"YOU MADE THAT DECISION FOR THEM!" Remus roared. "Lily wouldn't have had to choose if you had just shut your mouth!"

The last bit of sunlight disappeared over the horizon, and Remus started convulsing, dropping to his knees and burying his head in his hands.

"Remus?" Sophie asked, stepping forward, worried about her uncle. Was it possible for someone to get so angry they just exploded?

Hermione's face paled as she looked up at the sky. "Sophie - wait!"

"No!" Pettigrew shouted, cutting off Hermione's warning. "Stay away! _He's a werewolf_!"

Sophie stepped back, watching with horror as Remus' body began to shift from human into a giant wolf. He threw his head back and howled as the transformation happened. It was possibly the most painful and grotesque thing Sophie had ever witnessed. Claws burst from his fingers and shoes. His face twisted and lengthened into a snout. His limbs stretched while his back hunched over. She could hear the faint sound of bones shifting and snapping.

"C'mon Sophie!" Harry said, pulling her backwards. "We need to get back to the castle!"

Before they ran, Sophie did Pettigrew one small act of mercy. She undid the jinx that bound his arms, leaving him free to turn into a rat and disappear. They didn't have time to bring him to the castle, but she didn't like the idea of leaving him to get torn apart by a werewolf.

She was pulled along by Harry, who had grabbed her hand and was dragging her towards the castle. Sophie wondered if she was slowing him down, as Harry was naturally a lot faster than she. Ron and Hermione were both slightly in front of them. Hermione threw a few spells at the werewolf, trying to slow him down, but they seemed to have no effect other than making him angry.

Sophie glanced over her shoulder, and immediately wished she hadn't. The werewolf was gaining on them, and in moments would be right at her heels. She could see his yellow eyes, his snout snarling as he chased after them.

Out of nowhere a giant stag came galloping onto the scene, charging right at the werewolf and driving him backwards with his antlers. The werewolf howled as if in anger. Still, the stag held his ground, stomping his foot and aiming his antlers at the werewolf. Every time the werewolf tried to take a step forwards, the stag would shake his head and push him back.

A third animal appeared, a giant black dog that was almost the size of a bear. He barked a few times, gesturing his head towards the castle. Deciding that they were better off with the pair of animals who saved them, Sophie, Harry, Ron and Hermione followed the dog away from the Forbidden Forest where the stag was still fighting with the werewolf.

They were almost at the castle when one more obstacle was hurdled at them. It seemed that the presence of humans on the grounds after curfew attracted a new foe. The grass turned to ice under her feet, crunching as they ran. There was a chill in the air, and surrounding them were over a dozen dementors. She could hear faint voices in her mind. She let go of Harry's hand, finding herself slowing down until she was rooted at the spot, clutching her head.

The giant dog was next to her barking and pulling at her sleeve, but she didn't notice him.

"_What was I to do? He said he'd spare us all if I gave him Harry - all he wanted was one little boy!"_

Sophie recognized that voice now. That was Peter Pettigrew. She stumbled backwards, trying to keep herself from fainting again. The closer the dementors got, the clearer the words in her mind were, and the foggier the surroundings became.

_"Crucio!"_ She could hear Sirius yell this time as Pettigrew cried out in pain.

The little girl started shrieking, "_Stop it! Stop it! You're hurting him!"_

For the second time that evening, Sophie's vision went black as she hit the ground.

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><p>AN So the actual story is kinda scattered in there, but Peter is basically trying to omit certain details and re-write history so he's not the bad guy.


	12. The Godfathers

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N Note on grades: I roughly imagine O, EE, A as the equivalent of A, B, C while P, D, T are the equivalent of D, E, F.

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><p><strong>Chapter 12: The Godfathers <strong>

Sophie awoke to the sound of a hushed conversation. Confused, she blinked a few times to try to figure out her surroundings. The walls were a clean looking white, as were the sheets on the bed. There was also a white curtain drawn around her bed for privacy. She was in the hospital wing?

"_I'm sorry James; I'm ashamed I messed up so horribly_." She vaguely recognized the voice, although the words made little sense to her. Why was her dad here?

The events of the night suddenly came back to her and she bolted up in bed. She was horribly alert as a panic set in. Peter Pettigrew. The werewolf. The dementors. What had happened? A hand was quickly on her shoulder, easing her back down.

"It's okay, love, you're in the hospital wing, everything's fine," Sirius said, trying to get her to relax. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," she replied. Nothing hurt, but she felt exhausted and a little overwhelmed. "What time is it? Where's Harry?"

"It's about half-past noon." Sirius glanced at his wristwatch. "Your brother and his friends were up earlier this morning, so Poppy released them. We thought it would be better to let you have a bit of a lie in."

Suddenly, they there interrupted by James' voice which had risen from the hush he had been using earlier. "_You shouldn't have been out of your office after supper!_"

She then realized who the other voice had been. James and Remus were quarrelling over what had happened the night before. From the sounds of it, James was upset that Remus had transformed and went after them. Luckily for them, a stag and dog had saved them. She wondered what happened to the pair.

"Don't worry about your Dad," Sirius reassured her, "He's just upset."

Sophie sank into her pillows. James must be furious. He had told them not to put themselves into any danger and she had been out late on the grounds. If she had come back with Astoria, Pettigrew would have never had the opportunity to kidnap her. "How much trouble am I in?"

"None in the slightest," Sirius looked confused. "You know what happened last night was not your fault?"

She nodded, because she knew that was what he wanted to hear. But she didn't really believe it. If Sirius thought she blamed herself, they would just go in circles in that line of direction. Besides, she had so many more pressing questions after everything that happened. She suspected she only had a window of time before James discovered she was awake and went all worried-Dad over her. "I guess. What happened to the stag and dog? They saved us and I don't know why."

The pair seemed oddly human, and Sophie wondered just who had sent them.

"That was James and I," Sirius scratched the back of his head. She must have looked confused, because he gave more of an explanation. "We became unregistered animagus in our fifth year to stay with Remus during his transformations. Werewolf bites and scratches don't affect animals the same way they affect humans, you see. Pettigrew was our friend at the time and became a rat with us. James was the stag."

Her mind was reeling as she processed some of this information. James and Sirius had been friends with Pettigrew, and they were all animagus together to be with Remus, who was a werewolf. Her dad could transform into a stag while her godfather could transform into a dog? Why hadn't she known any of this before?

"I don't think I've ever seen James move so fast when we got on the grounds," Sirius' smile was rather humourless. "Not to scare you, but I think you know how close that came. James got there in time though, so that's the main thing."

"Sirius?" She hesitated a second too long.

"Yes, love?"

"Was Pettigrew really my godfather?"

The word godfather had always perfectly suited Sirius. He was her uncle, her big brother, her friend, another parent figure. He was so much; there had never been a word to describe it, so godfather made sense. Now she learned he wasn't and it didn't make sense. She didn't _want_ Pettigrew as a godfather. He was horrible.

"When you were born, Lily and James did ask Peter to be your godfather, yes. James was closer to him than Remus at the time and they had already asked me to be Harry's."

"But what about you?" She blurted out.

Sirius looked confused for a moment, before realization dawned on him. "You don't have to worry about that too much. You're just as much my godchild as Harry. There's no real rules or documents, you know. It's more of a muggle thing Lily wanted to do."

"I let him go," she quietly admitted. "I didn't want him to get eaten."

Sirius' eye had a sparkle to them. "That was you?"

"Yes - er - is that alright?"

"You did a good thing," Sirius ruffled her hair. "You spared a life, and James and I couldn't be prouder of you."

"But he's still out there, will he come after me again?" She worried. This was the second time he'd done it, and she didn't want to have to think that at any moment, Pettigrew would show up again. It would have been easier if he was dead or arrested, but now he was free.

"Pettigrew owes you a Life Debt," he explained. "I think it's safe to say Pettigrew won't come after you. Magic works in mysterious ways, and Life Debts are funny things. Now that you saved his life, it's up to him to save yours to repay that debt."

There was one more question she had, something that had bothered her from the night before.

"Whenever the dementors come near me, I hear a little girl screaming," Sophie nervously explained. "Is that _me_?"

Sirius suddenly looked old. Now that Sophie knew his form was a dog, she could see some similarities. His head dropped, and if he had a tail, Sophie was sure it would be between his legs.

"I'm surprised you remember that. James had asked Peter to sit with you at the hospital while he went back to check on Lily, he didn't know Peter was the spy until he got home. When I got to the hospital, Peter was planning on using you to negotiate with James. Only James and I knew that Pettigrew was the secret keeper at the time, so we could have covered it up. You probably heard the duel - "

They were cut off by another round of raised voices. "_I said I'm sorry, James! What more do you want?"_

Sirius' attention wavered, seeming curious what was being said between his friends. That left Sophie free to eavesdrop as well.

"_I don't know_," came James' quieter answer. Sophie had to strain to hear him. "_I think it's best if you stay away for a while._"

Remus left shortly after that, Sophie could hear the door to the hospital wing shut. She was a little surprised he didn't come check on her, but was relieved she didn't have to face him just yet. She didn't even know herself if she could face him after seeing what he became. Her heart pounded in her chest as she remembered his transformation the night before. James opened the curtain, yanking her from that line of thought.

"Sophie - " James' voice caught in his throat.

He then pulled her into a tight hug that seemed to last forever. He rested his chin of top of her head, and rubbed circles into her back. She closed her eyes, feeling safe in her dad's arms. She could feel his heartbeat thumping just under her ear. When he pulled away, his eyes searched hers. "How are you feeling, love?"

"Fine."

James didn't seem to take that as an answer though, running a few diagnostic charms to be sure. He usually over reacted every time she or Harry got sick or injured, so that wasn't anything new to her.

"Are you mad at Remus?" Sophie quietly asked.

James paused, trading one of those significant looks with Sirius, before carefully responding. "Yes, I am."

Seeing that that wasn't enough for her, James elaborated a little. "Remus had strict rules so he wouldn't be a danger to students on the full moon," explained James. "And he broke them last night. I understand his reasoning, but that doesn't forgive the fact that put you all in great danger. He should have floo'ed home after class like he's supposed to, and then he never would have put you in that position. Another professor should have been out looking for you."

The conversation was dropped immediately, as James started asking her what had happened and what Pettigrew had done. She had been examined the night before by Madame Pomfrey, but James wanted to make sure she hadn't missed any potential lingering curses. Sirius also took her statement about the kidnapping so that he could file it with the aurors. If Peter Pettigrew ever resurfaced, he just had kidnapping a minor added to his list of crimes.

xXxXx

When Sophie returned to Slytherin that afternoon, her friends immediately pounced on her. Kitty was first, and Sophie stumbled backwards from her enthusiastic friend's death grip. Astoria was the next to hug her, while Nephele hovered close behind.

"Oh Sophie, thank Merlin you're alright! When you didn't come back to the common room after curfew I got worried so I went to see Professor Lupin. I knew he was a family friend of yours, I didn't know that he – " Astoria's voice dropped to a frightened whisper. "That he was a _werewolf_, Merlin, Sophie I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I didn't know either. I was happy when he found us." Sophie looked around the dorm. "How did you find out he was a werewolf?"

She knew news of what had happened the night before travelled quickly at Hogwarts. She had received a number of sympathies on her trip back from the hospital wing. Even Draco Malfoy had offered her a brief nod in the common room. She just didn't realize the accuracy of the Hogwarts gossip mill.

"Snape told the prefects at breakfast and everyone found out from them," Nephele explained. "I expect parents will be owling to have Lupin sacked by supper."

"That's not fair!" A fifth voice chimed in.

Sophie noticed that they weren't the only ones in their dorm. Lyssa was at her desk, frowning at the four of them.

"He's a _werewolf_," Kitty said, sounding dumbfounded. "Dumbledore shouldn't have even hired him!"

"It's not his fault!" Lyssa snapped. She stood up to yell at them, shaking her finger. "He's a perfectly nice wizard most of the time and parents are going to complain about _one_ night he can't control!"

"They're going to complain that on that _one_ night he attacked four students!" Astoria heatedly told her. "And I think they have every right to do so, he could have _killed_ Sophie or ruined her life. He deserves to go! He's lucky the Potters aren't looking to have him executed for that."

That set Lyssa off, and she rounded on Sophie immediately demanding to know if the Potters were going to sue Remus over the incident. Since Remus was a werewolf, he was considered a beast in the eyes of the ministry and they could have him executed like the Malfoys had a hippogryff executed earlier that year. Sophie honestly didn't know, but she couldn't see her Dad doing that. No matter how angry he was with Remus, he wouldn't have him put down like an animal. More heated words were exchanged as Astoria told Lyssa to back off and leave Sophie alone.

Sophie dropped her eyes, weary over the argument that was taking place between Lyssa and the rest of her roommates. It was easy to defend Remus when you only knew him as the kind professor who happened to have a terrible problem. She would have been the first one to support him if she had found out any other way. But it was hard to defend him now that she had come face-to-face with the uncontrollable monster the rest of the wizarding world feared.

In her mind's eye, she could still see the glowing yellow eyes just behind her.

Sophie ended up holing herself up in the dormitory the whole weekend, not too keen on seeing the rest of the student body. She showed up to meals earlier than most so she could avoid the rush. She was able to catch up with Harry, Ron and Hermione as they had done the same. They had been able to fill in their side of the story, telling her what they had learned during the year about Peter Pettigrew's friendship with the Potters, how Hermione learned Remus was a werewolf thanks to an essay assigned by Professor Snape, and what had happened after they ran into Neville that night.

Neville tried to apologise for abandoning her with Pettigrew, but Sophie wouldn't hear any of it. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug. He had been the one to tell Harry, after all, and to fire-call James and Sirius. Harry had returned Neville's stolen wand, and he looked happy to have it back.

Lyssa had stopped speaking to her. Not that they were ever close friends, but they at least had been on friendly terms before. It seemed that Remus had resigned before he could be sacked. She was upset that Sophie hadn't said a word in his defence.

"You know him!" Lyssa badgered her one day in their dormitory. "You know he's a nice wizard and a good professor! You know he'd never harm a student!"

"Oh shut _up_!" Sophie finally snapped back. "You wouldn't be saying that if it were _you_! And he _did_ almost harm a student, whether he meant to or not! _He could have bit me!_"

"I wanted to like you," Lyssa replied, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "But I see you're no better than the rest of them. No wonder you're a Slytherin! You're just as prejudiced."

"Yeah? Well, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're a Slytherin too!" Sophie screamed at her. "So you can stop acting like it's an insult because you're just making yourself look dumb! No wonder Ravenclaw wouldn't have you!"

Lyssa had fled the room near tears after that. That had been the last conversation Sophie had with her. The other girl spent every waking second with her Ravenclaw friends, before returning just at curfew and going to bed.

On Friday morning, Professor Snape handed out their end of term reports. He gave Nephele a small congratulations on her ranking, which had been first in their year. Zephyr looked sour at that, despite coming in third himself.

Professor Sprout and Professor Otterburn had been very understanding about missing her exams that Friday. So they re-weighted her final mark to reflect that. So that was some relief, knowing she hadn't lost any marks for missing out on those. She had slept through the Herbology one and hadn't had the heart to write the Theory of Magic one.

Sophie torn through the envelope that contained her report.

**_Final Report for Sophie L. Potter_**

_Pass Grades: Outstanding "O", Exceeds Expectations "EE", Acceptable "A"_

_Fail Grades: Poor "P", Dreadful "D", Troll "T"_

_First Year Final Grades_

_Charms: O _

_Defence Against the Dark Arts: O _

_English: O_

_Herbology: EE_

_Introduction to Muggle Culture: EE_

_Introduction to Wizarding Culture: O_

_Mathematics: EE_

_Potions: EE_

_Theory of Magic: EE_

_Transfiguration: O_

It wasn't a bad report, by any means. She had gotten an Outstanding in her three best subjects, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration as well as an Outstanding in Wizarding Culture, which was a joke class to anyone who grew up in the wizarding world. The O in English had been a surprise, she must have done better on some of her final work than she thought. She was ranked ninth overall in her year. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if her grades were good enough to get her accepted into Healer Academy. They were picked based on NEWTs, which was years away, but if this was any indication, then she'd need to work a lot harder.

"I wonder when the ranking list will be posted," said Astoria.

"How did you do?" Nephele asked.

"Oh, I'm eighth," she said. "I was just curious who made the list."

Only the top ten of their year would be posted, everyone else kept their rankings private unless they wanted to share.

"I'm ninth."

"Twenty-seventh," Kitty shrugged. "I failed Theory of Magic."

"Kitty - " Astoria tried to be sympathetic. There were only forty students in each year, so Kitty had ranked among the bottom half of the class.

"I don't mind. Look!" Kitty happily shoved her report under their noses. "Professor Flitwick thought I _exceeded expectations_!"

The next day, it was time for them to board the Hogwarts Express and leave. The girls got a compartment to themselves and played Exploding Snap as they talked about their summer plans. Kitty's birthday was later that month and her parents were throwing her a party. Astoria planned more summer adventures for them, including sleep-overs, beach trips and shopping.

"I'll owl you," Astoria said as she hugged Sophie goodbye. "Let you know about Ithaca once my parents work out the details."

She waved goodbye to her new friends, a little sad that they would be separated for the next ten weeks. She would miss them, but she was a little grateful to go home and get away from Hogwarts for a little while. She hadn't quite felt herself since the 'incident' and needed a break from everything.

Sophie found where her brother was waiting for her with James and Sirius. She smiled as they hugged her, ready to go home.

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><p>AN: So that's it for the First Year Arc! The next chapter will begin the Second Year, which I'm hoping will be around twelve chapters. Thank you everyone who's read / reviewed / favourited / followed so far! I'm always happy to know people are enjoying this and I'm always happy to hear your thoughts.


	13. The Visitor

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N I'm really excited to move onto Year 2 for this. I have some hopefully exciting things coming up, as well as new, but familiar, faces to introduce! :) Hope you all enjoy.

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><p><strong>Chapter 13: The Visitor<strong>

Sirius forced a mug of coffee into James' trembling hands.

His friend needed rest more than anything, but after the events of last night, Sirius knew caffeine would have to make do. In one night, James' entire world was knocked off balance.

Sophie was sick.

Harry was injured.

Lily was dead.

Sirius shuddered to think at how much worse that night could have gone. As it were, they still weren't completely out of the dark yet. Sophie was fighting off a near-fatal disease and Harry needed to be examined for any lingering traces of dark magic. A funeral would need to be planned for Lily and Sirius wasn't sure how James was going to hold up through all of this.

It was a miracle that Harry had been found alive in the wreckage of the Thicket. Neither Sirius nor James could fathom what a six-year-old could have done against Lord Voldemort. The tearful explanation they had coaxed out of Harry confirmed what they had suspected had happened, but it didn't explain where Voldemort was now or how Harry survived what should have been a fatal curse. According to Harry, he had seen a 'green light', then Voldemort had 'disappeared' before Harry opened his eyes.

All that was left was a pile of Voldemort's black robes and his wand. He doubted that Voldemort was out there robe-less and wand-less, and he wondered if that could mean that the bastard was actually dead.

It was a small condolence that if Lily had to die, at least she had somehow managed to bring Voldemort down with her.

Sirius had stopped by the Potter's home in Godric Hollow to check in on them, but when he had arrived, he had stumbled upon a scene straight out of his worst nightmares. The house looked like it had imploded from the inside. Upstairs, James was on the ground hugging Harry's unconscious body, Lily laying face up next to them with her green eyes glazed over in death. Sirius had managed to pull James together, before the pair realized with horror that James had left Sophie at St Mungo's with the very wizard who had betrayed them.

Sirius was ashamed to admit that he hadn't exactly helped the situation. The moment he had walked into Sophie's hospital room and saw that traitor sitting by her bedside he had lost every ounce of self-control. Never had he wanted to hurt someone as much as he wanted to hurt Wormtail in that moment.

He could still hear Sophie shrieking, "_Stop it! Stop it_!" her eyes wide with terror as her uncles duelled.

Sirius nursed his own coffee, making a face at its bitter taste.

Professor Dumbledore's appearance on his doorstep that morning had hardly come as a surprise. He had wanted to examine Harry and talk to James. Dumbledore was quite keen on talking to Harry, something that James was against at the moment. Harry had been given a strong calming draught and was currently sleeping it off in one of the guest rooms upstairs. They hadn't had any luck calming the hysterical six-year-old until the calming draught took effect and Harry slipped into a deep sleep.

It was James who explained the events of the evening to Dumbledore. He was still in shock, his voice flat as he informed Dumbledore what should have been joyous news; Voldemort was gone.

Now the three of them sat at Sirius' kitchen table, mulling over their own thoughts. Any other time, Sirius may have reflected how out of place Dumbledore looked in his mismatched kitchen, drinking Earl Grey out of a mug with a pattern of brown paw prints.

Dumbledore was the first to break the silence. "Where is your daughter, now?"

"Sleeping upstairs," James said. Sirius knew the guilt at having to discharge her prematurely from the hospital ate at him. But it was hardly safe at the moment. At least the healer at St Mungo's had given them enough of the Dragon Pox anti-dote to treat her from home. "I couldn't stay with her, and didn't want to – "

James' trust had been completely shattered last night. While before James would not have hesitated to entrust Sophie to Sirius, Remus or Peter now he wouldn't dare.

"That is probably for the best," Dumbledore agreed. "Will you be remaining here for the time being?"

Sirius quickly nodded. The Potters' home in Godric Hallow, The Thicket, had been blasted apart by Voldemort. While James could probably buy a new property, Sirius thought it might be best for all three of them to stay with him for a while. At least he would be able to help keep an eye on them.

They could stay as long as they needed.

xXxXx

No one ever knocked on the door to _Ruffy Ends_.

Their nearest neighbours were muggles and the muggle-repellent charms on the house kept them away. Their wizarding friends only came when invited and usually floo'ed or apparated straight into the kitchen. Very few people even knew the address that the Potters lived at and if anyone were to look up the ownership of the house, they would find it belonged to one Mr Sirius Black.

So when the day came one mid-July afternoon that there was a knock on their door, Sophie was unsure what to do. She waited in the kitchen, hesitantly going to the door. Her dad had the day shift at St Mungo's, Harry was at Ron's for the weekend and Sirius didn't seem to hear it.

She decided it would be best to open it.

There, on her doorstep, was a woman straight off the Witch Weekly society pages. She was dressed smartly in a light blue summer robe with a matching sun hat. She had platinum blonde hair that was arranged in a pretty bun that sat just below the hat.

"Mrs Malfoy," Sophie greeted, slightly taken aback. What was Narcissa Malfoy doing on their front doorstep? Did Sirius know his cousin was coming for a visit?

"Sophie Potter," she replied, smiling down at her. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. Is Sirius home?"

"Yes, just a moment." Sophie let the older witch into their kitchen as she called for Sirius to come down. "Sirius, your cousin is here!"

"Andy, I didn't know you were - " The smile trailed off his face when he walked into the kitchen to find himself face to face with Andromeda's sister.

"Sirius, it's been too long," Narcissa politely greeted.

"Not long enough," Sirius muttered just loud enough for Sophie to hear. She tried to hide a giggle as Sirius exchanged pleasantries with his cousin. If Narcissa heard, she gave no indication. "What brings you here? Sophie, why don't you put on the kettle."

"I've noticed you've been ignoring my invites," Narcissa mildly told him. She had the same grey eyes as Sirius, and they scanned the kitchen with slight distaste. Sophie knew it lacked any sense of décor and could have been a bit more cohesive. Everything was a mix-match and the colour scheme was rather loud. Not that James or Sirius really cared.

"What invites?"

"I don't buy for a second that my owl has not managed to deliver a single letter in eight years."

Sophie ducked her head and busied herself with the tea kettle. For years, Narcissa had been sending them invitations to birthday parties, holiday parties and even the odd 'play date' with her son, Draco Malfoy, when they were younger. Sirius had ceremoniously ripped each one of them and set them on fire. It struck Sophie as odd that Narcissa didn't give up over the years, although she supposed it was only a formality. They haven't received much these days other than the annual invitation to the New Years party Narcissa threw during the holidays or the Mid Summer's Eve party she threw in July. It was definitely odd that Narcissa decided now would be a good time to follow up on those missing invitations.

"We have a lot of protective enchantments around the house, maybe your owl couldn't get through."

"Yet I could?" Narcissa gave a rather vicious smile.

Sophie poured two cups of tea, feeling it was the polite thing to do. She used Sirius' favourite one with the brown paw prints on it, and a pretty light blue one with a white trim for Narcissa. She even found some biscuits that she arranged neatly on a plate. Narcissa watched her intently, as if she had never seen a human prepare tea before.

"Anyway, the reason for my visit is to personally deliver this, to you and the Potters." Narcissa produced a pair of small envelopes from her handbag. "I thought Sophie might like to come, a lot of her classmates will be there. It's a shame she hasn't had the chance to meet Draco before. He could have helped her through her first year. They're practically family."

Sirius broke the seal on one, reading the tiny card that came with it. "July thirty-first," Sirius said, pretending to think about it. "Well that's unfortunate, Cissy. We have plans."

"What plans could possibly be better than one of my parties?"

"Harry's birthday is that day," Sirius brightly told her, "We usually do some family party. Wouldn't be right to ask him to spend it shaking hands with politicians."

Only Narcissa's eyes gave away her displeasure as she told them 'Maybe next year then' with a smile. Sophie suspected that the party would never be held on that particular day again. Unless Narcissa wished to exclude them in the future.

She finished her tea, slowly sipping it and making small talk after that. She declined the biscuits, looking at the plastic muggle packaging they had come in with a frown. She asked Sophie how she was finding Slytherin, and about her favourite classes.

"_Practically family_," Sirius mocked after Narcissa left. He bit into one of the biscuits, before waving it around. Crumbs dropped onto the floor. "Funny, I don't see her pestering Andy about introducing her brat to Tonks."

Sirius was rather moody after Narcissa's visit, and Sophie decided to leave him be. It wasn't until later, after she was supposed to have gone to bed, that Sophie found out the real reason for Narcissa's visit. She was going to get a glass of water downstairs when she overheard Sirius talking to James. Sophie stopped at the top of the stairs, not daring to go any further. She was still curious why Narcissa had taken an interest in them and knew this was her chance to find out. They'd stop talking if they heard her coming down the stairs.

"What did Narcissa want anyway?" asked James.

"Her usual plots, I suspect. I think she's given up on Draco befriending the Boy-Who-Lived and has her sights set on Sophie. Probably thinks she's more attainable being in the same house and all."

Harry only had a small group of close friends, but it seemed everyone in the wizarding world wanted to be his friend because he was famous. People at school were sometimes extra nice to her because they wanted to use her to get to her brother. She could usually tell, because they'd ask her about him or want to meet him. She was happy that none of her friends were fame obsessed. Only Astoria had really met Harry so far, and that was because she spent so much time with Sophie. And by that point, she had heard enough about him from Sophie that she really wasn't star-struck.

Sophie would have thought that the Malfoys were above chasing after celebrities.

"She's a half-blood," James happily informed him. "Sophie's got to be low on the list of quality girlfriends for Darling Draco."

Surprisingly, Sophie found that that stung. Even if she didn't like Draco, she didn't like people thinking she was of poor quality. She sat down on the top step, ready to jump up if either of them came near.

Sirius seemed to have other thoughts on the matter. "I'd reckon she's pretty high up on the list, actually. Give it a few years and you'll see. The Potters have a good reputation in the current political climate, and if You-Know-Who ever pops up again, Cissy's got her sacrificial lamb to give him. As for being a half-blood, you know as well as I do how that works. She's got a pure-blood name and if she marries into the right family, everyone will just conveniently forget Lily's heritage and count Sophie's children as pure-bloods. As much as they all hate muggle blood, they know marrying the occasional half-blood keeps the gene pool healthy. It's just the insane who think otherwise," his voice dropped, "_Like my mother._"

"I hate it when you talk like that," said James, "You sound like you're breeding poodles."

Sirius let out a barking laugh. "That's probably how they do it, line up all the children within a couple of years age and try to pair them off to keep blond hair and grey eyes. No wonder Lucius married Cissy! Or Molly and Arthur! They've probably got their eye on Harry and Sophie, you know, since Lily was a redhead there's a good possibility - "

Sophie felt disgusted at that thought. She only knew Percy, Fred, George and Ron out of the Weasley brothers, but she wouldn't marry any of them! Seeing that James and Sirius weren't being so serious any more, she made her way back to her room, her earlier trip for a glass of water forgotten.

Narcissa wasn't the only Black sister to show up to _Ruffy Ends_ with alternative motives that weekend. Andromeda stopped by the next day, saying that she needed to speak with James and Sophie about something. Although Andromeda's motives were usually for good, and this time was no exception.

The three of them sat around the kitchen table, with cups of tea and a plate of biscuits, a situation that gave Sophie a sense of deja vu from the day before. Andromeda had a friendlier air about her than her sister, but she could be just as prim and proper.

"I heard that you turned down the Greengrasses' invitation to have Sophie spend a weekend with them in Greece this August." Andromeda looked sharply at James over her tea cup. She didn't wait long to make the point of her visit known.

Sophie immediately perked up at that. She had been horribly upset when James said no, and locked herself in her room and ignored him for an entire weekend, thinking he was being unfair. She had tried to plead her case to Sirius, but he had decided to not get involved in this dispute. Maybe Andromeda might be able to persuade him to let her go.

"You've never had a problem letting Harry go anywhere with the Weasleys," Andromeda continued, "While I've told you time and again that Sappho and Hyperion are good friends of mine and I can personally vouch for them."

"The Greengrasses seem like nice people, but I don't know them well enough to let them take Sophie out of the country," James firmly told her. "I've had no problem letting Sophie visit Astoria here in England."

"I'd still encourage fostering a better relationship with the Greengrasses. A girl like Sophie needs more older witches in her life, as role models, especially without Lily around. Aunts, cousins, family friends, the mothers of her friends - " Andromeda let the last part hang for a moment, before continuing. "You and Sirius have done a wonderful job raising them, I won't take that away from you, but there are some things that may require a witch's knowledge now that she's getting a little older. For example, I don't suppose you noticed that Sophie can't go much longer without a brassiere."

Sophie flushed horribly, not expecting that turn of conversation. While she had noticed during the year that she was the only girl without even a training bra, it wasn't something she knew how to ask her Dad about. It seemed that that was something James hadn't even considered, and he looked bewildered for a moment, before sweetly asking Andromeda to do him a favour. Andromeda looked triumphant as she made her suggestion, looking every bit the Slytherin she had been.

So that was how Sophie ended up on a girls' weekend trip with Andromeda and the Greengrasses. They stayed at _The Vesta_, a rather nice hotel chain that was located in most major cities with a significant wizarding population. Tonks was supposed to come, but got caught up in some investigation and had to work the weekend, much to Andromeda's dismay.

They had breakfast at one of the cafés along _Le Chemin de Traverse_, Paris' equivalent to Diagon Alley. They chose to eat outside since it was shaping up to be a beautiful morning. A great-horned owl appeared, dropping a letter in front of Daphne. She immediately scooped it up.

"It's from Pansy," she quickly added, "I should go read it in private."

She quickly disappeared, leaving the owl at her place at the table. He hooted happily as Sophie offered him a piece of her croissant and stroked his feathers.

"Daph's got a _boyfriend_," Sappho explained, with a trace of amusement in her voice. "But she thinks she can keep it a secret from her mother."

Astoria grinned, clearly already in the know about Daphne's secret relationship. She didn't confirm it though.

"Dora likes to tell me everything," Andromeda sighed, "It's enough to turn my hair grey. She changes boyfriends as often as - " She trailed off with a rue smile, clearly exasperated with her wild daughter.

"She changes knickers?" Sappho slyly supplied.

Sophie doubted Tonks had had that many boyfriends. Sure, Tonks had a new one every time she seen her, but they lasted for a few weeks or months at least. Knickers were changed much more frequently. Sophie glanced at Astoria, but her cheeks were red and she was determinately avoiding eye contact.

Andromeda shook her head, trying not to laugh. "I'm starting to regret telling James you were a good influence! Don't tell me you put these ideas into Dora's head!"

Sappho winked at Astoria and Sophie. "I'll tell you girls the exact same as I told Dora, you only get to be young once and you might as well enjoy it. The spouse and children can come later. And if Sirius gives you any flack about the number of boyfriends you have, dear, come see me and we'll see what kind of dirt I remember from _his_ younger days."

Sophie laughed, making a note of that. With three males in her family and no female voice of reason, she suspected they would all be a little too wand-happy and want to hex her first boyfriend. "Thanks Sappho."

Andromeda and Sappho had packed a busy schedule in their trip. None of the girls had been to Paris in years, so they made sure to do a few of the usual tourist attractions as well as some shopping along _Le Chemin de Traverse_. There were only so many places a witch could shop in England, and after a while they all looked like they were wearing the same robes in different colours.

Their shopping trip ended with a visit to _Celeste_, a boutique with custom dress robes. Daphne's school list had required she bring a set this year, and she had out-grown even the expansion charms on her last pair. Astoria and Sophie's lists didn't have dress robes on them, but Sappho decided they should be measured anyway. Astoria's others were deemed too 'young' looking while Sophie didn't have any at all.

While Sappho and Andromeda commented on the sapphire blue dress robes that Daphne had tried on in the back, Astoria and Sophie sorted through a rack of robes. They seemed to be made with older teens and young adults in mind, and Sophie doubted they would fit right on them, even with the alteration charms.

A pair of older girls were looking through them as well. One of them was strikingly beautiful, with silver-blonde hair and a tall willowy figure. She seemed to have a silvery glow about her. Sophie thought she could try on any dress in the shop and look fabulous. Her friend, who would normally be considered beautiful, seemed to pale in comparison.

The girl pulled a pretty silver dress from the rack and held it up to herself and said something. Sophie didn't understand French, but one of the words was unmistakably 'Hogwarts'.

Astoria tilted her head in thought, before lowering her voice and fingering the lacy detailing on a golden robe. "I didn't know Hogwarts took transfer students."

"Do you understand?" Sophie whispered.

Astoria nodded, whispering back, "A little. They were talking about going to Hogwarts this year. I didn't catch much."

They were interrupted after that, Andromeda had found a couple age-appropriate robes for Sophie to try on and ushered her into one of the changing rooms. The pair of French girls were soon forgotten.

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><p>AN Le Chemin de Traverse is what Diagon Alley is called in the French translation. It means Crossroads according to google translate.


	14. At The World Cup

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N: Just a word of caution moving forward. Sophie's pretty observant and she reflects a lot on things, but she's not always right. (Like in first year when she thought that Remus got sick month a once because he had a weak immune system, when really that was his excuse for the Wolf Thing). I also glazed over a lot of the World Cup cause I don't like re-writing canon. Stuff still needed to happen though. Cheers!

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><p><strong>Chapter 14: At the World Cup<strong>

James and Sirius were trying to coordinate the camping situation for attending the World Cup. Sirius, James and Arthur spilt the cost of a box that seated sixteen people and they were trying to figure out what to do with the remaining tickets.

"Hermione has permission from her parents to come," said James. At this point, Hermione had been practically adopted by their family. They usually tried to include her in things, showing her more of the wizarding world than just Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. She had been fascinated the first time James took her grocery shopping, and even tagged along with him on a shift at St Mungo's. Sirius was supposed to bring her for a tour of the ministry some time.

"Tonks said she'd be down, her and whatever the boyfriend's name was. So that brings us to fifteen."

James frowned, doing the math. "Nine Weasleys - "

"_Eight_ Weasleys. Molly's not coming," Sirius laughed. "I think she's looking forward to getting them all out of the house for a few days."

"That leaves us with one more ticket then," James thoughtfully said. "Sophie, do you want to invite one of your friends to come?"

"Really?" She perked up from where she was reading in the living room. She hadn't been looking forward to this trip. For one, she wasn't really a Quidditch fan. For two, she didn't feel like spending that much time with the Weasleys. For three, Myron and Elliott were going to be there with Myron's mum, and Sophie wasn't too keen on being around them either. They acted like everything was fine and the three of them were as close as ever. The only highlight was that she would get to see Tonks.

It would probably be a lot better if she had someone she could hang out with. As it were, she was going to be forced to tag along with Hermione and Ginny the entire time and she wasn't really looking forward to that. Hermione had started giving Ginny tips on a boy she had a major crush on, but they usually reverted to some code name whenever someone else was around. As if Sophie didn't realize the boy in question was her brother.

Sophie wondered if Nephele had gotten tickets. Of all her friends, Nephele liked Quidditch the most. "Can I invite Nephele?"

"As long as her mother is fine with it, we have to be at the camp site early Monday morning, so she can come over Sunday. We'll be home sometime Tuesday afternoon," James replied.

Sophie was a little shy to write the letter to Nephele. Usually Astoria was the one who did all of the inviting, and the girls would get together at her house. Before that, James usually arranged with Marlene McKinnon or Augusta Longbottom for her to visit Myron and Elliott.

_Dear Nephele,_

_Hope your summer holidays are going well._

_I was wondering if you had tickets to the World Cup. My Dad said I could invite a friend to come with us and I was wondering, if you didn't already, if you would like to come?_

_Let me know either way._

_From, Sophie_

The next evening, Rumplestiltskin returned with an answer from the Rosiers. There was a pair of letters rolled up in a scroll, one addressed to Sophie and the other addressed to Mr Potter. She opened the one for her, and found Nephele's neat, although formal, writing.

_Dear Sophie,_

_My summer holidays are going well, thank you for asking. Hope you are enjoying yours._

_Thank you for the invitation to join your family for the World Cup. I would be delighted to join you. Mother has given me permission to attend, although she has attached a letter to your father to discuss the details._

_Best regards,_

_Nephele_

_PS I hope you intend on cheering for a proper team. Ireland stands no chance._

Sophie brightened as she ran downstairs to give James the letters. Nephele and her mother arrived on their front step at promptly half-past three on August twenty-first. Just like Mrs Rosier's letter said they would.

Just at first glance, Sophie would have never guessed that Regina Rosier was old enough to have a child at Hogwarts. In fact, Sophie would have thought that the pair was sisters rather than mother and daughter. Regina had golden blonde hair, but her darker eyebrows gave away that that was the result of potions and not genetics. She had brown eyes rather than Nephele's grey ones, but had the same high cheekbones and angular face as her daughter.

"I've been _dying_ to meet Nephie's friends, she's told me so much about them," Regina gushed. "We should really get together sometime; have some drinks so the girls can play."

Sophie caught the barely contained eye-roll Nephele had while her mother was talking.

"Okay, Sophie, why don't you bring Nephele's bag upstairs? Regina, would you like to stay for a cup of tea?" Sirius smoothly separated Nephele and Regina, sensing some of the tension.

"Honestly," Nephele grumbled on the way upstairs, "It's like she thinks we're _five_."

Sophie avoided Nephele's eye as she showed her to her room, not quite sure what to make of her first encounter with Regina. It was no wonder Nephele often went to great lengths to avoid introducing them to her mother, slipping off without a goodbye at the platform or taking the floo by herself. Nephele's cheeks had a tinge of pink in them when Sophie finally turned to her.

"Call me Nephie," she darkly muttered, "And I will kill you in your sleep."

Sophie immediately bit her tongue, hiding the grin that was threatening to break out. She showed Nephele where she could put her bags and they hid upstairs until James fetched them so Nephele could say goodbye to her mother.

Nephele seemed shy around Sophie's family. It was odd, because while Nephele wasn't talkative, she was never afraid to speak her mind when she wanted. She was overly polite at dinner, but did little talking outside of responding to questions.

"I remember your father, he was the same age as Reg, so he was around often as kids," Sirius told her. "Didn't keep in touch after, but I could tell you what I remember."

"I'd like that," Nephele quietly responded. "Thank you."

Sirius then regaled them with some childhood memories involving his younger brother, Regulus, and Nephele's father, Evan Rosier. It was something that Sophie had never heard him do before. Usually he pretended that his life didn't exist before Hogwarts.

That seemed to melt the ice and Nephele was more relaxed around Sirius at least.

The next morning, their portkey was scheduled to leave at ten in the morning. Sirius had been given a portkey just for their family, as they were the only wizards in the surrounding area. Luckily, they didn't have leave so early in the morning. Most of the portkeys were staggered throughout the day so that hundreds of people wouldn't be arriving at the same time. The Weasleys got stuck with one of the earlier portkeys, so they would get there before the Potters.

James had apparated over to Hermione's home in London to pick her up around nine, giving them just enough time to get back and wait for the portkey to activate at ten. One of the muggles who worked at the camp site took their money and gave them directions to the where they would be sharing with the Weasleys. It seemed that Arthur and the boys had already sent up the two tents, having arrived a few hours earlier. There was a larger tent that all the wizards were sharing, and a smaller one for the witches.

Tonks appeared at their camp site later that day, with a wizard she introduced to them as her boyfriend. Usually once or twice a year, Tonks would bring someone new to meet her family. They never lasted long though and while Andromeda hoped that Tonks would meet a 'nice young wizard or muggle and settle down', she seemed relieved that Tonks hadn't settled down with any of the current lot.

This one had his hair shaved at the sides, and royal blue hair that was sticking up in three, foot-long spikes down the middle. He had an earring on his left eyebrow, and his muggle jeans looked like they were in need of a good _reparo _around the knees. He had a green t-shirt that was missing its sleeves, with a picture of a Leprechaun that kept giving them a rather crude hand gesture.

He seemed oddly well matched for Tonks, at least in appearance. She had changed her hair to a bright green in support of the Irish and was wearing a long sleeved shirt that had the stripes of the Irish flag along the sleeves, and a shamrock in the middle of it.

"Maddock Cooper, but you can call me Mad," he introduced himself, enthusiastically shaking Sirius' offered hand. Mad's attention wavered, catching sight of the Weasleys. "Merlin's balls, is that Bill Weasley? I haven't seen him since we left school!"

James' mouth fell open in protest of that particular phrase, while Sirius could barely contain his laugh. Mad wandered off to say hello to the older Weasleys, leaving James and Sirius free to tell Tonks exactly what they thought of him.

"Every father's dream," James sarcastically muttered.

"Really?" Sophie innocently asked. James glowered at her.

"I bet Andy _hates_ him," Sirius said, with a small note of awe in his voice. "Good girl."

Tonks laughed, "I don't choose my boyfriends to piss off Mum, believe it or not. Just works out that way. He's a softie anyway, once you get over the blue Mohawk."

"Tell him to change the shirt and clean his mouth," James warned. Normally he was much more relaxed about Tonks' choices, but this one seemed to annoy him."Or I've got a _scourify_ with his name on it."

"Sorry, the t-shirt was behaving before we left," she looked apologetic on her boyfriend's behalf. "I'll tell him to watch his mouth in front of the kids."

Luckily there were no further problems with Mad, and he cheerfully removed the offending shirt and painted his chest green. Fred and George, of course, thought he was brilliant and joined him. They tried to convince Percy to follow suit, although it was a lost cause.

"Everyone from the ministry is here," Percy scolded them. "What would Mr Crouch say?"

Before long, they were making their way to the pitch. Salesmen lined the path, offering various souvenirs for the game. A few had betting booklets, although James strictly forbid them from doing any gambling. Sophie used some of her pocket money to buy a large green rosette to pin to her robes. Nephele bought a pin that changed from Krum's scowling face to the logo of the National Bulgarian team. She was one of the few from their group who was openly supporting Bulgaria.

"He's wonderful," Nephele spoke in awe as she told her about Viktor Krum on the way to their box. She was wearing one of those replica Bulgarian jerseys. It was scarlet with a white seven on the back, which was always the seeker's number. "Easily the best seeker in the world."

Ron also seemed to share Nephele's sentiments, although the two hadn't exactly conversed about it. Nephele had managed to neatly dodge all of the Weasleys, sticking close to Sophie and her family the entire time they had been at the camp site. She did, however, seem to get on well enough with Hermione. The two had made polite, if a bit awkward, conversation earlier about one of Hermione's electives.

The box next to theirs began filling with ministry officials. Percy was more than happy to give them a running commentary about who each of the people were.

"My boss, Mr Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation," Percy boasted. "He's been working around the clock to put this on with Mr Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Among other things, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Oh, and that's the Bulgarian Minister for Magic – "

The next group of people climbing up to the box needed no introduction. Lucius Malfoy escorted his wife, Narcissa, up the steps and they were followed by their son, Draco.

"It's lucky you have such generous friends like the Potters," Lucius sneered at Arthur. "Box seats like these would cause your family to go without for months. Although I daresay they're used to that."

Not much else was exchanged other than some heated looks. The last time Lucius and Arthur had gone at each other in such a public place was two years ago in Diagon Alley, when they got into a fist fight in the bookstore. Sophie hoped they didn't resort to something as childish as muggle duelling again. It would look poorly on all of them, especially with so many to witness it. Lucius held out his hand to his wife, to help her into their box.

Narcissa paused for a moment, regarding Sophie and Nephele, before giving them a polite smile. She then pulled Draco along before he could volley some insults at the Weasleys as well.

The game begun shortly after that, putting an end of any conversation as everyone quickly became absorbed with the match. Sophie took more interest in watching the mascot displays on the sidelines. Being at the World Cup was not as exciting for her as it was everyone else in the box. She had been dragged along to one too many of these events and they all seemed the same to her. It also wasn't her first World Cup either as her family had attended the last one in Japan. That had been exciting, although it was also Sophie's first time out of Europe and they stayed for three weeks. This time was just a quick camping trip in England.

"I don't understand, why did he catch the snitch? He knew they were going to lose." Sophie asked Nephele on their way back to their tent.

In a surprise ending, Viktor Krum had caught the snitch and ended the game with a loss for Bulgaria.

Nephele shrugged. "They were going to lose anyway, their chasers sucked. I think Krum wanted to make it a closer score. Plus, now people will talk about _him_. He's the better seeker, why should Lynch get the pat on the back?"

Everyone around them was laughing and celebrating the win for Ireland. People let out green sparks from their wands, and the air looked like fireworks were going off.

The celebrations only continued once they reached their camp site. They sipped cups of hot cocoa as Ron and the twins re-enacted highlights of the match and did a little impromptu singing of their own. They could hear the boisterous laughter and singing coming from the surrounding camp sites or as people walked by.

It was well past midnight before the adults decided that everyone should start quieting down and heading to bed. Tonks was in charge of the girls' tent and more or less making sure they were all accounted for. Mad had been sent to the other tent, to try to make nice with Sirius and James. Something which had gotten increasingly hard for him to do over the course of the day.

It was difficult to settle in, as the camp site was still alive and many adults were drunk and still celebrating. Sophie tried to block out the noise, but came to accept that they wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. She whispered back and forth with Nephele, who had the bunk below hers. She could hear Ginny and Hermione having their own hushed conversation too.

Suddenly, the singing turned to screaming.

"What in the blazes - " said Tonks. "Everyone up!"

The five of them left their tent, finding the guys had came outside to investigate too.

A group of wizards dressed in long black robes with silver masks covering their faces were parading through the camp site. They blasted tents out of the way, and a few caught fire. People were running, abandoning their camp sites in fear. Green lights were shot into the air, but unlike the earlier sparks that were released in celebration of Ireland, these ones looked menacing.

The worst par though, was the fact that the wizards had four people suspended in the air, twisting and contorting into unnatural positions. Sophie recognized one of them as the muggle camp site owner, and the other three looked to be his wife and young children.

"Tonks!" Sirirus called over. "Get the kids to the woods!"

Tonks looked ready to insist that she could stay and help, but decided against it. She took Sophie's hand and pulled her along. "Come on you lot," she told the underage group. "This way!"

As Tonks pulled them towards the forest, she deflected a few blasts that had been aimed towards the crowd.

"_Protego_!" She shouted, and a magical shield went over their heads, one of the spells bounced off it and hit a tent, causing it to burst into flames.

In the chaos, the rather large group out broken down into smaller groups. They were pushed and jostled among a crowd of frightened people. Sophie noticed a trio of red-heads just in front of them as Ginny, Fred and George got pushed aside. Sophie had no idea where Harry, Ron or Hermione had disappeared, as she lost sight of them. Soon enough, it was just Sophie, Nephele, Tonks and Mad together at the edge of the forest.

"Mad, take Sophie and Nephele deep into the forest, I've got to go see if they need another auror. Someone will come get you when all this is over, okay?"

Mad agreed, leading the pair of them into the forest. She was a little nervous, but Tonks trusted him so that was enough for her. Both she and Nephele had their wands in hand, just in case.

They slowed down as they got deeper in the forest, as there weren't as many people here. Most had disapparated once they got past the anti-apparation jinx that surrounded the camp site. The lanterns that had lit the path earlier were out, leaving them stumble around in the darkness. Sophie and Nephele nervously clung to each other as they followed Mad's brisk pace.

Like a firework, a single beam of green light exploded in the sky above them. Nephele looked pale beneath the greenish glow and Sophie felt a horrible chill go down her spine at the sight of it. She had no idea what it meant, but it was terrifying after seeing the masked wizards at the camp site.

Above them, a greenish skull hung over the camp site, a snake slithered out of his mouth as if it were a tongue. The snake twisted around, until it was curled in a figure-eight.

Mad hoarsely gasped, "No!" before he immediately disapparated at the sight, abandoning Sophie and Nephele in the forest.

"I know that symbol," Nephele weakly said. Her eyes were wide as she stared at it, as if trying to place where she had seen it before. "Dad had a tattoo like that on his left arm."

"What is it?"

Sophie didn't get to find out what the symbol meant, as they were interrupted by another voice, screaming their names. "Sophie! Nephele! Mad!"

"Tonks! We're over here!"

Tonks was frantic as she caught up with them. She frowned seeing just the two girls. "Where's Mad?"

"He's, ah, gone," Sophie told her, sharing a look with Nephele.

"Gone?" Tonks echoed, her hair starting to darken.

Nephele had seemed to recover her composure. "Disapparated that moment that thing went up in the air."

Tonks let out a string of curses, none that Sophie would ever repeat in front of James.

"I'm going to kill Maddock when I find that stinking coward," Tonks fumed. Her hair had gone from its usual bubblegum pink to a fiery red. "Can't believe he ditched two kids in a time like this! I should let James have a go at him whenever I find what rock he's hiding under."

She sent out a wisp of silver smoke that disappeared off through the forest, in the general direction of the camp site. Then, the three of them waited in the forest for what seemed like an entirety. Tonks said it wasn't safe to go back just yet, as the ministry officials were trying to figure out who had put that symbol in the sky. She had been with James and Sirius when it went up, and the three of them separated to try to locate the kids.

"The Dark Mark," Tonks explained. "It was You-Know-Who's symbol. Usually the Death Eaters cast it whenever they killed someone."

"Death Eaters?" Sophie asked. Nephele tensed beside her.

Tonks never got around to explaining just what she meant by that, as a silver stag appeared in front of them. Sophie instantly recognized it as the same one that had appeared on the grounds in June. "Dad?"

The stag spoke, in James' voice, "The ministry has things under control. You can come back now."

The three of them quietly made their way back to the camp site. Other people were starting to emerge from the forest, poking at what remained of the camp sites. There was smoke rising in the air as people extinguished their tents. The Weasley tents had managed to escape untouched, and they rejoined the rest in the boys' tent. They were the last to arrive, as everyone else was already back. Some of the adults looked worse for wear, James was fixing a rather deep gash on Charlie when they walked in. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked fine, although pale and shaken. Ginny, Fred and George had some scratches from the trees.

James hugged her, crushing her when she walked in. "Are you alright? And Nephele?"

"Where's Mad?" Sirius asked, he was holding up the green leprechaun shirt that they had made Mad change out of earlier.

"Disapparated once he reached the woods," Tonks huffed. She promptly set the shirt on fire and Sirius quickly dropped it. "I don't plan on seeing him to return that."


	15. Princess Pansy

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N Officially a quarter of the way through the story! Here's to the next forty-five chapters. Reviews are a wonderful form of encourage. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 15: Princess Pansy <strong>

The last week of summer holidays had been chaotic. James had gone absolutely mental over the events at the World Cup, although Sophie couldn't blame him. The Death Eaters reforming was James' worst nightmare, as it was clear the Potters would be a prime target. He and Sirius spent the better part of one evening rechecking the protective enchantments around the house, and then had Bill Weasley come over to try to get past them.

Sirius and Tonks worked long hours trying to fix the mess after the Quidditch Cup. To Sirius' annoyance, they weren't able to find the person who had cast the Dark Mark or any of the people running around in the masks. He darkly muttered he had a good guess who some of them were, but couldn't actually prove it.

As it turned out, Harry, Ron and Hermione were found just under the location that the Dark Mark had been cast. It really shouldn't have surprised Sophie that her brother had been present. He did have a knack for finding trouble, but each time he managed to out-do himself.

When the ministry officials showed up, they had only been able to find a house-elf named Winky holding a wand she had found left on the ground. The wand belonged to an eleven-year-old girl who had been running with her family into the forest and dropped it along the way. She was quickly ruled out as the possible suspect as she hadn't even attended her first year of school yet. The house-elf happened to belong to Mr Crouch, the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and he was livid at the implication that it was his servant who had cast the mark. Harry insisted that it wasn't the house-elf, and that the voice had been male. Still, the house-elf had been sacked over it.

To say Hermione had been upset at the treatment of Winky was an understatement.

Hermione had rounded on all of them at the table the afternoon after the World Cup. She and Nephele had received permission to stay with the Potters the last week of the holidays.

"You don't keep house-elves, do you?" She asked over breakfast the next morning. She glanced around the kitchen, as if expecting the Potters had kept one hidden from her all this time.

James shook his head. "Lily gave ours away to one of our neighbours, Bathilda, to help take care of her."

"We had Kreacher growing up, nasty little bugger. Narcissa inherited him when Mum died. Probably for the best, we didn't get along much, Kreacher and I. Cissy and I too for that matter."

"Chipper died a few years ago and it's been difficult to get a replacement," Nephele admitted. She looked pleased as she added, "Mother had to learn to _cook_."

The answers hadn't impressed Hermione, as no one else seemed to think it was that big of a deal. House-elves were quite common in old pure-blood families, and the Potters, Blacks and Rosiers were among the oldest. Hermione didn't ease up on the topic, and managed to exhaust the entire house. Sophie and Nephele managed to escape her most of the time, leaving Harry to listen to Hermione's rants about slavery and cruelty. Ron had gotten an earful when he made the mistake of saying his mum wanted one to help around the house. James and Sirius' smiles were a little strained whenever they answered Hermione's persistent questions.

Nephele flat-out refused to engage Hermione on the topic, especially once Hermione started badgering about how the Rosiers didn't _need_ to replace their last house-elf and they could be leaders in a new way of life without one.

"Are they always like this?" Nephele quietly asked Sophie as they were getting ready for bed. Nephele and Hermione had been put in Sophie's room for the rest of the holidays.

"What?"

"Muggle-borns," Nephele clarified. "I thought she was supposed to be _smart_. She's just going to alienate everyone like that. No pure-blood wants to hear that they're _barbaric_ from someone raised by _muggles_."

Sophie noticed that Nephele used the same tone to say 'barbaric' and 'muggle'. She wasn't the only one who noticed that. Hermione had just walked in the bedroom.

"And just what do _you_ know about muggles?" Hermione demanded. "Have you ever talked to one?"

"About as much as you know about house-elves then," Nephele challenged. Her grey eyes got very narrow and she thrust her chin out, looking eerily like Draco Malfoy.

"Maybe we should go to bed," Sophie ventured. The silence that had fallen over her room made her feel awkward and she wanted whatever tension between Hermione and Nephele gone. She wasn't sure how that was going to be repaired. Hermione wasn't backing down on her house-elf issue and Sophie wasn't sure she wanted to know what Nephele's thoughts on muggles were. "We'll have a long day tomorrow."

The topic of muggles was something Sophie had managed to avoid with her friends. She knew she was the only half-blood among them and that didn't seem to be an issue. From the sounds of things, the Greengrasses weren't really bothered by muggles or muggle-borns. Astoria's parents were good friends with Andromeda and Ted Tonks after all.

Kitty and the Penroses seemed to view it more as a class thing. In the magical world, the pure-bloods often controlled the wealth and power and it was kept within a small group of families. Muggle-borns were often at a huge disadvantage, as they entered a new world at eleven and made to make their way through it with no family connections at best, and blood prejudice at worst. While Kitty wouldn't insult someone for their blood, she seemed to think some people were better than others.

It hadn't escaped Sophie's mind that Nephele's father had been a Death Eater though. Sirius had explained to her what they were the next day and what they had done. It chilled Sophie that Nephele's father was one of the people who thought muggle-borns like her mother were dirty and deserved to die. Sirius also made sure she remembered that Nephele had no control over what her father thought several years ago. She only controlled what she thought today.

Whatever her thoughts on muggles and muggle-borns were, Nephele seemed clever enough not to mention them out loud.

xXxXx

As usual, Hermione got up before Sophie and Nephele. By the time they made their way downstairs, she had already eaten and was sitting at the table, reading the Daily Prophet and waiting for the rest of them. Regina Rosier was also waiting for them in the kitchen, having come over to say goodbye to Nephele before they went back to school.

"I would have seen her off at the platform, but Ellen Goyle owled me last night saying we simply _must_ meet for tea and how can I say no?" She prattled on. "Her boys are going back today, and I'm sure she's relieved to have them gone. It's so _cramped_ having all the children home for the summer hols, you know?"

"I always find it too quiet when they're back," replied James.

"Don't get me wrong, I love having Nephie home!" She gave her daughter air kisses on the cheeks. "I'm going to miss you _so_ much darling."

Sirius had arranged for a portkey to take the six of them to the platform at ten-thirty. He and James shrunk the trunks and placed them in their pockets, enlarging them once they were at the portkey gate. Harry and Sophie were given plenty of warnings to try and stay out of trouble before they boarded the Hogwarts Express. While a year ago, James had been certain that Sophie would give him no headaches, now he seemed to have re-evaluated that thought after her first year.

"Look after your sister Harry, and I don't want _either_ of you to go looking for any murderous creatures or people this year, or investigate anything that looks suspicious – "

Sirius gave a soft snort. Harry had an amused smirk on his face. Sophie sighed in exasperation. It wasn't like she did that on _purpose_. She had been kidnapped after studying for a Herbology exam.

"Be safe, and I'll see you at Christmas."

James gave her a hug goodbye, but Harry dodged his with a protest. Apparently her fourteen-year-old brother was too old to be hugged by his dad at the platform. Nephele and Hermione both thanked James for taking them to the World Cup and having them for the past week.

They separated on the platform, as Harry and Hermione were going to find whatever compartment Ron had saved for them, and Sophie and Nephele spotted Astoria with her cousin, Laelia Farley. They were soon joined by Kitty, and the five girls searched for a compartment on the train together. As usual, most were full and it was difficult to find seating. Astoria knocked on one door, and slid it open when there was no response.

"Oh honestly, that's just tacky," Astoria said, her cheeks flushed. "You could at least lock the door!"

Sophie peered inside the compartment, and immediately wished she hadn't. Cassius Warrington was sitting on top of Jason Greengrass, the two of them locked in a very intense tongue-duel. With a flick of his wand, Jason immediately closed the compartment door and the curtains, leaving the five girls giggling out in the corridor.

Kitty giggled. "I think they're rather sweet together. Much better than that cow, Parkinson."

If there was one thing the Parkinson girls were good at, it was forcing themselves into relationships with rich, pure-blooded wizards. Their eldest daughter, Violet Parkinson, had announced her engagement during the summer to Preston Burke. Sophie remembered Sappho's comments that Violet had dug her claws in as soon as she could.

_"Mark my words; that girl will be pregnant before her honeymoon is over."_

Sappho disproved heavily of the Parkinson girls, especially since Rosie Parkinson marked Jason Greengrass as _hers_. It seemed that wasn't going to happen, especially with the way Jason was enthusiastically snogging Cassius.

Of course, it wasn't a total loss for the Parkinson family. While Rosie had failed to catch Jason's attention, Pansy had planted herself firmly by Draco's side.

"Daphne said Pansy's been impossible ever since she stayed with the Malfoys for a week." Astoria informed them once they settled into a compartment of their own. Now that they were out of the corridors, they could gossip freely about the rest of their house. "She thinks dating Draco makes her something of a princess."

As much as Sophie hated to admit it, it seemed that Slytherin really did revolve around Draco Malfoy.

"Well, the Malfoys are practically wizarding royalty," Kitty informed them. "If Pansy's trying to be the Narcissa Malfoy of our generation, it helps to date her son and have the Malfoy name behind her."

Astoria looked unimpressed. "She's just going to get worse if she thinks she's untouchable."

A few hours later, they arrived at the train station in Hogsmeade village. They parted ways with Laelia, who had to go with Hagrid and the rest of the first years by the boats, and made their way over to the horseless carriages with the upper years. Sophie, Astoria, Kitty and Nephele climbed into one of the carriages and were joined by two Slytherin boys from their year, Blaine Manderly and Jasper Peasegood.

The sorting ceremony was rather dull and long if you weren't one of the people being sorted. The most interesting part was when the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor Moody, showed up half-way through the feast. Sophie had heard of him, he had been an auror with Sirius until he had been forced into retirement. From the angry murmuring around her, it seemed like he wasn't well-liked among her housemates.

Astoria had been a bit disappointed when her cousin had been sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin. Selfishly, Sophie was a little glad as that meant she didn't have to compete with Laelia for Astoria's attention. The cousins were close whenever they were together, and Sophie had worried that her 'best friend' status might be threatened with the younger girl around.

"I can't say I'm not surprise," Astoria mused on their way back to the dorm. "Laelia's always been very clever. I suppose we can sneak her into our dormitory."

"Maybe we can trade with Ravenclaw," Kitty giggled as they made their way to the dungeons. "Lyssa for Laelia."

Things remained strained with their fifth dormmate. Lyssa had sat with them during the sorting as it was one of those few times people were expected to sit with their houses, but didn't say much to any of them. Only a passing comment that she wondered aloud what Professor Lupin was doing this year. Sophie had pointedly ignored her. She hadn't seen Remus over the summer anyway. She wasn't sure if he was avoiding the Potters or if James hadn't wanted him to come around. Either way, she was relieved that she hadn't seen him since June. She still wasn't sure how she felt about nearly being eaten by a werewolf and still woke up with nightmares over it.

"Knotgrass," Nephele said to the stone wall. The entrance way to Slytherin appeared and the girls walked into the common room. Jason and Fiona had given out the new password to everyone during the feast.

A voice called out the moment they walked into the common room. "Potter, come here."

Pansy Parkinson sat in front of the fourth year fireplace, looking every bit a princess in her throne. The other Slytherin fourth year girls were gathered around her, like her loyal ladies-in-waiting. Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode and Portia Dolohov sat on the armchairs in a circle around her. Missing from their ranks was Tracey Davies, who had transferred schools after a year at the hands of Pansy.

Sophie shared a look with her friends. Astoria shrugged her shoulders as if to leave the decision up to her.

"I'll catch up with you after," she said. It was probably not a good idea to ignore Pansy and get on her bad side.

She felt ill as she made her way to the group of older girls. She sat on the tip of the offered armchair, her back rigid and her entire body alert. Until now, Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson had ignored the younger Potter. Draco's feud against her brother, oddly enough, didn't extend to tormenting his younger sister. Pansy seemed to have forgotten she existed, which suited Sophie fine.

"Why haven't I had the pleasure of your acquaintance before now?" Pansy asked. "Daphne is such a dear friend of mine, and you get on with her sister so well."

Daphne's smile was strained, and Sophie knew this wasn't her idea. She was always under the impression Daphne just tolerated Pansy because it was better to fit in than to be an outcast in Slytherin.

Unsure of what to say, Sophie stuck mostly to the truth. "I just keep with my year."

"I think you've heard some nasty little rumours about me," Pansy corrected her. "People think I'm mean."

"No, I haven't heard, er, anything like that."

"You mean your brother and Granger have had nothing but nice words? I didn't realize they spoke so highly of me."

"Well, no – "

"That's what I thought. You know, what has happened between your brother and his friends and my friends and I shouldn't affect what happens between you and I. There's no reason to have any _bad blood_ between us," Pansy said. She spoke slowly, as if enjoying taking her time and stretching out this conversation. "It's a shame about your mother."

Daphne paled, horrified at what her friend just said. "Pans-"

Pansy's face was the picture of innocent as she continued, "That she's dead, of course."

"Of course," Sophie bit the inside of her lip. She knew it was a thinly veiled jab at the fact that her mother had been a muggle-born. Pansy would just never openly say it, and would just claim a misunderstanding if Sophie ever brought it up again.

"I hope we can become friends, Little Potter," Pansy smiled at her. It wasn't a kind smile either, and gave Sophie a sense of dread.

"Er, sure?" Sophie returned. "I'm going to go to bed, it's been a long day. Good night."

With Pansy's nod of dismissal, Sophie quickly made her way to the second year dorm. Her heart was racing as she went over the conversation in her mind, trying to think of how she could have handled that better, wondering why Pansy suddenly wanted them to be 'friends'. Whatever the reason was, Sophie doubted it was a sincere desire to be besties. Maybe Pansy and Draco had something up their sleeve for Harry and they wanted to use her? It seemed like something they'd do, befriend the little sister to piss off Harry.

It was something she had threatened to do whenever she was mad at him. Something about Draco Malfoy set him off every time, and it was sort of funny to see how riled up he'd get over the thought of his sister befriending Malfoy. Or even worse, _dating_ Malfoy. Definitely a worthwhile revenge if Harry ever annoyed her enough, and she sort of thought Malfoy might even agree to it.

"What was that about?" Astoria immediately asked the moment Sophie entered their room.

Sophie scowled, "Pansy says she wants to be _friends_. I don't know why, she ignored me all last year."

"It's not that surprising. Sure there's some history between Draco and Harry, but you're a _Potter_. It's favourable to be a Potter right now," said Kitty. "Your family doesn't use it, but you've got all this popularity and political power because your brother defeated You-Know-Who. She was probably told to be nice to you."

It was a chilling moment, and Sophie wondered what would happen if it ever stopped being favourable to 'be a Potter'.


	16. Unforgivable

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N A really big thank you to everyone who read / reviewed / favourited / followed / pm'ed, those are super encouraging when I get stuck on parts :D

One of the creative liberties I've taken is to have all four houses together in the classes because it just didn't make sense for one professor to teach 7 years worth of subjects for 2 or 4 classes per year multiple times a week, plus have time for class prep and any other responsibilities they have. Cheers!

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><p><strong>Chapter 16: Unforgivable<strong>

Sophie was nearly late to her first class of the year, which happened to be Defence Against the Dark Arts. She had gotten sidetracked when she ran into Elliott Longbottom and had to endure awkward small chat with him about her summer holidays. The last time she had seen him had been at Harry's birthday party in July. Elliott prattled on about his summer holidays; he and Neville had been invited to attend the World Cup with the McKinnons and he wanted to ask if she had through anything through Sirius about the Death Eaters or the Dark Mark.

"See you around!" Elliott cheerfully said once they entered the classroom. He then left her to take the seat his friend, Myron McKinnon, saved for him.

Sophie stood awkwardly for a moment in the front of the class, scanning to see where her friends were sitting. There was usually some house division within classes and the neat little coloured lines were almost visible where the students sat. The cluster of Slytherins was in the right corner. Astoria was sitting with Nephele, and Kitty had taken a seat next to Blaine Manderly. She was flipping her hair and giggling a lot, something she suddenly did whenever they were around their male counterparts. Sophie sighed, looking around the classroom for an empty seat. She really hoped she wouldn't get stuck sitting next to someone like Romilda Vane or Lyssa Belby. Luckily, Romilda was next to her one of her usual lackeys, Nicole Chambers, while Lyssa was in the front next to one of the Ravenclaws.

She spotted an empty seat next to one of her fellow Slytherins, Jasper Peasegood.

"Do you mind?" She asked.

Jasper smiled as he indicated the empty seat and Sophie felt her heart flip. Jasper was rather cute, with his wavy, dirty-blond hair and his light, blue eyes. He had freckles dusted across his nose.

"It seems Blaine ditched me to flirt with Kitty," he said.

"I could probably say the same," Sophie said. She blushed as she corrected herself. "Or well, opposite I guess. Kitty was supposed to save me a seat."

They didn't have long to talk, because Professor Moody marched into the classroom just seconds after Sophie took out her notebook and her copy of _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_. His magical eye rolled around in its socket, glancing at each student in the classroom. Moody proceeded to pull out a parchment that presumably had the class rooster as he started to gruffly call out names. His normal eye never let the parchment, but the magical one swivelled to look at each person who answered 'here'. It was rather unnerving to have the eye land on her. It felt like she was being picked apart and that eye could see straight through her.

"Right then, Professor Lupin left me a letter detailing what you've already covered last year. Some basic counter-curses, shield and blocking spells and some pretty thorough ground on dark creatures," Moody informed them. "This year we'll be looking at curses and the worst that witches and wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you, and I don't trust the fools that will come after me to cover this properly. Some of your parents will surely complain. _Some_ people don't think you're old enough to see what these curses can do. Some people don't even think they should be taught at this level. I've been instructed to leave the demonstration out and just give you the bare minimum with the notes. Complete griffin dung if you ask me!"

There was some rather nervous looks around the classroom. A few people - namely Elliott, Myron and their Gryffindor friends - looked rather enthralled as Professor Moody spoke because it was clear he was intending on breaking some rules today. Sophie wondered if he'd even last the full year, given his intent to anger parents, Hogwarts staff and no doubt the Ministry.

With that, Moody pulled out a small glass container from his pocket that held a spider in it. "_Engorgio_."

The glass container enlarged, and with it, the tiny spider grew to the size of a rat. Sophie crinkled her nose with disgust. Spiders were ugly enough when they were small, never mind when they were enlarged and every feature was even more visible.

"Today I thought I'd start with the very worse of them, the Three Unforgivable Curses. Using any one of them is enough to land you a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Now," Moody's eye swivelled in its socket, landing on Derek Goyle before the natural one looked at him too. "Mr Goyle, can you give me one of the three Unforgivables?"

Derek shifted in his seat. He wasn't as thick as his older brother, Gregory Goyle, but he didn't like volunteering answers in class. This was one of the few times Sophie had ever heard him speak. "The Imperius Curse. It forces the person to do whatever the castor demands them to do."

"Popular one back in the war." While Moody's magical eye looked at each one of them, his natural eye remained on Derek. "Especially after it. A lot of witches and wizards claimed to have been imperiused by You-Know-Who or one of his followers and only committed crimes because of it. Almost impossible to tell who was lying and who was telling the truth."

Derek looked at his hands; his cheeks lost their usual rosy colour and he looked a bit ashen. Sophie wondered if his father was one of the people Moody was talking about. She had heard rumours that Crabbe and Goyle Senior were some of You-Know-Who's followers.

"_Imperius_," Moody said as he pointed his wand at the spider.

Suddenly, it was doing cartwheels and back-flips on his desk. Kitty screamed as it landed in front of her, before Moody caused it to leap to another desk and begun to tap-dance in front of one of the Ravenclaw boys. A few students giggled, but that just caused Moody to snap.

"Think it's funny do you?" He forced the spider to fling itself across the room, only to stop before it crashed against the window. "It is entirely under my control. I can force it to dance, do back-flips, kill its friends and family, and even kill itself if I wanted."

That killed any of the laughter in the class and immediately the mood shifted to a more sober one.

"What's the next curse?" Moody's eye scanned the class list. "Mr Selwyn?"

"The Cruciatus Curse, sir. It's the torture curse."

"Your father's Boreas Selwyn?"

For once, the usually haughty Zephyr looked nervous. "Yes sir."

"I remember him well. Tell him ol' Mad-Eye says hello." Moody gave a rather cruel smile to Zephyr. "Yes, the Cruciatus Curse causes the victim immense pain."

He levitated the spider back to his desk before saying, "_Crucio_."

The spider started shrieking and thrashing as Moody held it under the curse. Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the image of the spider shuddering, but she could still hear the inhuman screams. She heard the scrapping of chairs against the stone floor as one student in the front quickly stood up and left the room. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that it was Elliott who had stormed out.

The disturbance caused Moody to stop torturing the spider. Immediately it collapsed on the desk, curling into itself in the fetal position. When one of the Gryffindor girls, Demelza Robins, jumped up to follow Elliott, Moody choose to ignore her and continue on with his lesson.

"Ms Rosier, how's your father these days?"

Nephele looked murderous. "He's dead."

"Pity." Moody didn't look too sorry at the news. "What's the last Unforgivable Curse?"

"The Killing Curse," Nephele replied. Her back was straight, her eyes glazed and she sounded like she was quoting from a textbook. She probably was. "It's considered the most terrible curse in the Wizarding world. It instantly kills the person and is impossible to block. There's no known way to counter it."

"You are mostly correct. There is one known person to survive it," Moody slowly said. "I'm sure you're all familiar with Mr Potter and his story. The greatest minds of our generation are still puzzling out how exactly he survived."

Sophie's heart was pounding. So that was why Harry was so famous? Because he managed to live through the impossible?

Moody pointed his wand at the spider one last time, with a feeling of dread deep in her stomach, Sophie knew what was about to happen. As much as she wanted to close her eyes and not see it, some small part of her was curious.

"_Avada Kedavra_."

There was a terrible, emerald green light that hit the spider, before its entire body sagged. There was an acidic taste in her throat, and Sophie found herself wishing that Moody had respected the Ministry's wishes and left out the demonstration. The class was silent the rest of the period, copying out the notes Professor Moody wrote on the board about the three spells.

"Class dismissed," Moody told them with fifteen minutes left to the period. As they were gathering their things and packing their bags, he barked out, "_CONSTANT VIGILANCE_!"

Sophie jumped, whacking her knee against the desk. "_Merlin's balls_!" She hissed.

"Never heard that one before," Jasper replied with a smirk. "I like it."

"Um, thanks," she pushed a lock of her dark hair behind her ear and smiled to herself. It seemed that Tonks' ex-boyfriend was good for something after all.

The second years quickly left the classroom, the Slytherins especially eager to get away from Professor Moody. It was clear that he didn't think much of their house, especially by the way he signalled out certain students and asked about their parents. The staff was usually fair, regardless of a student's house. Sophie wondered if this was how the other houses felt when they had to deal with Professor Snape. Not that she ever got any special treatment for being a Slytherin, she knew he had no love for her father or godfather, and definitely had none for her or Harry.

"Can't _believe_ Professor Dumbledore would let him teach students," scowled Nephele. "I'm glad he's gone after this year. People say the position's cursed, I bet he'll get what's coming to him."

"Wonder if he'll let us practice the Killing Curse on him, see if he can fend it off," Zephyr joined in. It was a rare day that Nephele and Zephyr agreed on something.

"Careful, we're not in the common room," cautioned Astoria. Usually they had a little more common sense than to openly say such things in the corridors.

Elliott didn't reappear for the next class, and the next time Sophie saw him was during lunch. She wanted to ask if he was alright, but he was surrounded by his usual gang of Gryffindors and she suspected she wasn't welcome. The most she could do was offer him a small smile as she walked by his table.

Later that night, Kitty talked endlessly about Blaine Manderly. She had sat next to him during the rest of classes that day, causing Astoria, Sophie and Nephele to rotate partners. Sophie sat with Astoria in Transfiguration and Nephele in English. She didn't mind being on her own in Potions though. Since Professor Snape assigned partners in the first class of the year, it meant Sophie got to be Jasper's partner for the rest of the year. If Kitty was going to try to get closer to Blaine, it didn't seem like too bad of a trade off that Sophie got to spend more time with Jasper.

Or until Snape decided to break them up anyway. She should probably try to look a little more miserable being Jasper's Potions partner. That might encourage Snape to keep them together out of spite.

"Oh, and Blaine was saying - " Kitty gushed, launching into some other story.

Astoria was on her bed, giving herself a silver-tipped manicure and having all the right reactions to Kitty's story-telling. Nephele was at her desk, mostly ignoring the girl-talk as she flipped through a paperback novel about some famous Quidditch player.

"What do you think of Jasper Peasegood?" Sophie asked once there seemed to be a loll in the conversation.

"He's cute, if he wasn't a half-blood I'd go for him," Kitty commented, "ooohh, you should, it would be perfect since - "

"_Kitty_ - " Astoria tried to warn, casting a futile glance in Lyssa's general direction. Like Sophie, Lyssa was a half-blood. Unlike Sophie, Lyssa thought Kitty was a snobby, entitled pure-blood and got annoyed with her rather quickly.

Astoria's warning was entirely lost on Kitty though. "You're both half-bloods so your father's not going to care that much and you don't really care that the Peasegoods aren't high society anyway. I mean, his father's just an _Obliviator_ at the Ministry. Marrying a Potter would probably be the greatest thing that's ever happened to their line."

"Oh Merlin," Astoria silently cursed. "Here we go."

"So what you're saying is that you're some sort of niffler, this really is the House of the Ambitious, isn't it?" Lyssa interrupted.

A niffler was a rather rude nickname for a witch who married a wizard for his gold. Kitty's cheeks turned pink, but she snootily replied. "Well, I am pretty, and a pure-blood, I expect I'll have some really good offers in a few years. Why should I settle for less?"

Lyssa huffed, and gathered her things to go read in the common room after that. It was not as disastrous as Sophie thought, and she wondered if Lyssa was just fed up and trying to pick her battles with them. It was hard to be sympathetic these days when she started most of them.

Kitty giggled at everyone's exasperated expressions. "_What_? I know my worth."

September passed quickly as Sophie got back in the routine of being in school. Nephele's birthday was near the end of the month. Whenever someone in Slytherin celebrated a birthday, Fiona would ask one of the house-elves to make a cake and they'd sing happy birthday in the common room. Given how many students there were in the house, there was usually a celebration every week or so. When they were sure Nephele was upstairs in their dormitory, Sophie, Astoria and Kitty decorated a table in the common room with green and silver balloons, along with a banner that read 'Happy 13th Birthday Nephele!' They also had presents they'd give to Nephele afterwards in their dormitory.

"I'll go get her," Sophie volunteered once they were finished decorating. She knew Astoria and Kitty were planning on asking people to sing and she was still uncomfortable approaching most of the older Slytherins.

Nephele was sitting in her bed when Sophie found her. She had her knees tucked up to her chin as she read a letter, a gentle smile softening her face. A shiny black broomstick was next to her, _Nimbus Two Thousand and Two_ was written in gold writing on the handle.

"Your mother got you a broom?" Sophie asked. It was the top of the Nimbus line, its speed rivalled only by the Firebolt. She had been dragged along to the Quidditch store over the summer when Harry went to check it out.

Nephele's cheeks had a tinge of pink. "Well, um, not exactly - it's from my dad."

She must have read Sophie's confused expression, because she elaborated a little more. "He wasn't sure if he'd be around for my birthdays, so every year I get a letter and a birthday gift. I think he must have arranged it with the shops?" Nephele's eyes fell back to the letter. "He says now that I'm in my second year, I should have a better broom at school."

Sophie felt a tiny spark of sadness for herself. She always felt a bit of a bond with Nephele, since they had both lost a parent young. Nephele was lucky her dad thought to write letters out in case he died. Sophie didn't have much from her mum, aside from some mementos like personal items, photos and jewellery.

"It's a nice broom," Sophie commented. "I bet everyone's going to go crazy when they see it." As much as she didn't enjoy Quidditch or flying, Sophie could recognize that this was a very gorgeous and well-designed broom. "Are you going to try-out for the team next year?"

The Quidditch House Cup wasn't being held this year since the Quidditch Pitch was being used for the Triwizard Tournament. It had been to the annoyance of most of the school, especially the Quidditch players.

Nephele grinned in response. "Naturally. Draco better not get lazy or he might just get replaced."

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><p>AN: Figured I'd explain what was going on earlier. Moody's signalling out the Death Eaters' children (Goyle, Selwyn, Rosier). Goyle and Selwyn escaped Azkaban so impostor!Moody isn't impressed with them. He probably thought Rosier escaped too since he never went to Azkaban. Canonically, the real Alastor Moody killed Evan Rosier, so that exchange was all kinds of messed up.

Sophie gets her first crush here. Jasper's not end game, I don't even know if they'll go on a date, but I wanted her to have some crushes / dates / boyfriends before I eventually pair her off ;) Any guesses? I'd love to hear your thoughts where things are going :)


	17. The Goblet of Fire

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N: Sorry the last chapter, and part of this one, feel like a lot of canon rehash. I'm trying to progress the story from Sophie's POV and gloss over anything too canon-y like the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, but I do want her to visit some events.

Don't forget to review if you're enjoying this. Even if it's just a few words, those really make a writer's day :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 17: The Goblet of Fire<strong>

The entire castle was abuzz October thirty-first. The day before, the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had arrived at Hogwarts and the Goblet of Fire had been revealed. The Hogwarts gossip mill was overactive with news about who had seen who putting their name into the Goblet and who people were hoping would be selected.

There was also some interest in members of the Beauxbatons and Durmstang delegations, most notably Viktor Krum. Even Nephele could hardly contain her excitement that the famous seeker was sitting just a few seats away from them at the Slytherin table. Jasper and Blaine kept going on about one of the Beauxbatons girls, swearing that she must have been a veela or something. Sophie felt there was something familiar her, but it wasn't until Astoria pointed out that they had seen her while shopping in Paris that Sophie remembered.

The Goblet of Fire sat in the middle of the Great Hall on a stool, its eerie blue flames somewhat dimmed in the daylight. There was a thin, golden line traced around it on the floor. A group of students eagerly crowded around it, but that seemed to discourage anyone from putting their name in that morning. People seemed almost shy to approach it, but there were plenty of rumours about who had stayed after the feast the night before and who had gotten up early to put their name in before anyone else was up.

At breakfast, Sophie caught up with her brother and his friends, asking if they knew anyone who had put their name in. There was a bit of speculation there, so far none of the Gryffindors had been spotted putting their name in. Ron's brothers, Fred and George, missed the age limit by a few months and had tried to trick Dumbledore's age line earlier in the morning. They had been sent to the Hospital Wing with a pair of long, white beards that rivalled Dumbledore's.

"There's a rumour going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in," one of Harry's roommates, Dean Thomas, informed them. He glanced at Sophie warily before adding, "The big bloke who looks like a sloth."

That description annoyed Sophie and she clenched her jaw. Cassius Warrington was big and built like a beater, naturally, but she would use the description teddy bear before sloth. She didn't realize he was old enough to enter as he was still a sixth year, but now that his name was suggested she hoped he would get it.

"We can't have a Slytherin champion!" protested Ron. Someone must have aimed a quick kick to his shins, because he winced before looking a little apologetic towards her.

When Ron, Dean and Seamus started mocking a Hufflepuff who put his name in, Sophie tuned them out to talk to Harry and Hermione. It was clear to her that they weren't really supportive of the idea of other houses having a champion. She was starting to think she'd root for anyone over a Gryffindor just to spite them.

"Would you put your name in if you had the chance?" Sophie asked her brother. "What's a few Ministry-controlled tasks after Slytherin's monster or a Cerberus?" She didn't bother mentioning the events of the last year, preferring to forget that that had happened.

If Harry wasn't underage, she could easily see him being chosen to represent Hogwarts. She was relieved that he was only fourteen. For once, they got to be normal siblings while someone else took the spotlight. It seemed that Harry shared her thoughts.

"It'll be nice to have a quiet year, let someone else have all the danger and attention for once," Harry ruefully told her. "Cheer on the Hogwarts champion from the sidelines."

"A _Slytherin_ Hogwarts champion," she slyly added, feeling amused at the disgusted looks on Ron, Dean and Seamus' faces. It was too easy to rile them up.

Hermione began harassing her to join her club, _SPEW_, again. She eagerly waved a button in the midst of her tangent about the poor elves who had cooked breakfast and had to prepare two feasts two nights in a row. Sophie and her friends had yet to join, all of them quite familiar with house elves and how insulted they'd be if Dumbledore tried to pay them. The extra bustle in the castle no doubt had them excited as they tried to impress their foreign guests.

"It's the _decent_ thing to do!" Hermione pressed.

Sophie was not going to be caught dead wearing one of those things in Slytherin. Why Harry and Ron encouraged her by buying one, she had no idea.

"Yes, well, indecent Slytherin here," she said, causing the boys to choke on their breakfast. Playing up the 'evil' stereotype in front of them was always fun. She decided that was her cue to leave. "I should get going or I'll be late."

She grabbed another piece of toast and left the Gryffindor table, rejoining Astoria, Kitty and Nephele on the way to the greenhouses. Herbology was Sophie's first class that morning, and with it came the perfect opportunity to chat with the other houses about who had put names in. So far, Sophie was rather limited to Slytherin's biased gossip, and the little she had gotten from Harry and his friends that morning.

Professor Sprout had decided to arrange the groups so that each one had a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw in it. When she read out the group assignments, she noted that she was tired of seeing the houses cluster together in the same little cliques. Sprout was one of the few professors who was actively trying to promote unity between the houses. The rest of the professors didn't seem too bothered if they sat with their friends or partnered with their friends. Unless they became too chatty, then they would be moved.

"Hey Potter," Demelza greeted as she dropped her bag at their table.

Demelza Robins was a tall girl with tight, curly black hair and a quick smile. After being partnered with her for a few weeks, Sophie was starting to realize Demelza was one of the few Gryffindors she didn't mind. If Elliott and Myron had befriended her the year before, they might still be close friends.

They were soon joined by the two other members of their group; a Hufflepuff boy named Rhys Llewellyn and a Ravenclaw girl named Andrea Pfeffer.

Rhys dropped his bag, and immediately asked, "Did either of you two hear if anyone from Gryffindor or Slytherin put their name in?"

"Cassius Warrington put his name in this morning," Sophie said. Astoria had confirmed on what the Gryffindors had said on the walk to the greenhouse. He had turned seventeen earlier in the month and thus was eligible to put his name in for the Triwizard Tournament. Unfortunately Jason had a later birthday and couldn't enter, although Astoria seemed relieved that her brother wouldn't be able to participate.

"I'm hoping Angelina Johnson gets in," Demelza said as she put her pair of dragonhide gloves on. The first half of their double Herbology was always working on their project and then followed by a lesson.

Professor Sprout had given each group twenty different seeds and a plot in Greenhouse One. Over the year, they were expected to care for the garden and harvest the crops at the appropriate times so that Professor Snape could use them as potions ingredients for his classes. It was rather dull, as it was mostly mundane herbs and flowers, with the odd plant like Dragontails or Kneazlenip that had some magical properties.

"What are we talking about?" Andrea asked as she carefully sat down next to them, making sure not to get too much dirt on her robes.

"Who's entered from Hogwarts," said Demelza. "Did anyone from Ravenclaw?"

"Oh, there were a few seventh years, but honestly, I think everyone's expecting one of the Gryffindors," Andrea said with an eye-roll. "This sort of thing seems right up their alley."

Afternoon classes were cancelled, allowing students to get cleaned up for the Halloween Feast. Which was probably a good thing, given that everyone was too excited to get much work done. Sophie had Theory of Magic after Herbology and Professor Otterburn had given up trying to control his class. Sophie suspected he was just as excited as they were for the champion to be chosen. He spent most of the class talking about past Triwizard Tournaments and joining in with speculation on what the first task might be.

Sophie and the girls spent the rest of the afternoon in the common room. It was exciting every time someone new announced that they had put their name in. Since that morning, three seventh year Slytherins had also entered, including the female prefect Selena Dippet, but Sophie didn't know them that well. All of Slytherin was hoping one of their own would be selected as the Hogwarts champion. It was a point of pride that Slytherin was often the house full of the ambitious and talented. Who better to represent Hogwarts at an international level?

Fiona Greystone smiled brightly as she walked into the common room. "I did it, I put my name in the Goblet!"

The entire common room burst into applause, and the other sixth years congratulated her.

Pansy sat down in the armchair across from Sophie. "Shame she won't get it, she'd give a great show of what a Slytherin witch can do."

"I think she's got as much of a chance as any of the others," Astoria cocked her head thoughtfully. "Fiona's very talented, even if she's a sixth year and the rest are all seventh."

"Dumbledore's probably got it rigged to give it to some Gryffindor," Pansy explained. "Don't hold your breath for a champion we can all root for."

Sophie was starting to hope that all this competition between the houses would die down once a Hogwarts champion had been selected. It would be nice to be united as a school for once, with all this house rivalry behind them. Everyone wanted someone from their own house, and she got a bad feeling that even if Angelina Johnson or one of the Gryffindors was chosen, some of the Slytherins would spend the entire tournament saying Dumbledore fixed it.

"I bet he's disappointed his pet's too young to enter," Pansy smirked. "Potter getting picked would just be too much. He'll have to settle for one of the others like, - Merlin, I can't even think of their names."

Sophie shifted uncomfortably at the sudden mention her brother. Luckily, the conversation died after that. Daphne approached them, pulling a boy with dark brown hair and vivid blue eyes towards them. Her arm was looped through his and she was giggling, something that made Pansy roll her eyes. Sophie wondered if this was the boy that Daphne had been owling constantly all last summer. It seemed that she was finally going to introduce him.

"Theo, these are my sister's friends, Sophie Potter, Nephele Rosier and Kitty Penrose," Daphne gushed. "This is Theo Nott, my boyfriend."

Theo gave a bland smile towards them, it was that polite, but dismissive look older students often gave younger years. Like they weren't worth his time, but he'd humour them because his girlfriend's sister was among them.

"I think they can tell by the way you're hanging off of him," Pansy scoffed.

Sophie and Astoria shared an eye roll. Pansy made sure every girl in the school knew she was dating Draco Malfoy and hung off of him at every opportunity. Either she was completely blind to her own actions, or she thought she was some sort of special exception.

"You're such a hypocrite, Parkinson," another fourth year joined them, although these one needed no introduction. Half the common room had a crush on Blaise Zabini. Including Kitty, who started fixing her hair the moment Blaise sat next to Astoria. It seemed that the pair were already familiar with each other, because Blaise teased Astoria in a matter similar to the way Harry's friends teased her.

At quarter to six, most of the common room cleared out. Everyone was too excited for the feast to begin and the champions to be selected. They were joined by the Durmstrang students again. Sophie could see Viktor Krum sitting amongst the seventh years with his friends.

"Do you think it's too silly to ask for his autograph?" Nephele whispered.

She was trying to play it cool now that it seemed that the Durmstang students would be sitting with the Slytherins all year. Sophie and Astoria shared an amused smile. Sooner or later, Nephele would find her courage to talk to the famous seeker.

And get that autograph.

"It's probably silly, I don't want to look like another star-struck fangirl," Nephele talked herself out of it. "I'll strike up a conversation some time. A completely normal one, about something _other_ than Quidditch because I'm sure that's all anyone ever wants to talk to him about."

Everyone kept glancing towards the staff table, eager for the moment Dumbledore finished eating. He seemed content to take his time, chatting merrily with the guests from the Ministry and Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime. Finally, dessert was vanished from the golden plates.

Dumbledore rose from his seat.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He dimmed the lights in the Great Hall and the Goblet of Fire shone more brightly. Not that it needed any more attention, every single eye in the hall was on it, students and staff waiting with baited breath. The white-blue flames turned red and a single piece of parchment shot into the air.

"The champion for Durmstrang," Dumbledore read out in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum!"

Everyone burst into applause, and the Durmstrang Headmaster, Karakaroff, looked thrilled at his school's selection. It seemed that not many had been surprised at the decision. Even the rest of the Durmstrang students, while disappointed, nodded and applauded. One of them gave Krum a friendly thump on the back.

Krum stood up from the end of the table and made his way towards Dumbledore as directed, walking along the staff table before turning and disappearing through the door into the chamber.

Once everyone's cheers and applause had died down, the goblet turned red once more before another piece of parchment shot out of it.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

A rather beautiful girl with silvery hair stood up from the Ravenclaw table. She had attracted quite a lot of attention since her arrival the day before, and even Sophie caught herself staring in awe a few times. Never had she seen another girl so beautiful and graceful. The Beauxbatons students looked less thrilled at their champion. Two girls had started sobbing when Fleur had been chosen. Sophie felt embarrassed for them, they were making quite the scene.

Like Krum, Fleur Delacour approached Dumbledore before walking along the staff table and disappearing behind the door to the trophy room.

Once final time, the goblet turned red and shot out the third piece of parchment into the air. Dumbledore snatched it, unfolding it. Sophie held her breath, excitedly squeezing Astoria's hand. This was the moment they had been waiting for for that past twenty-four hours. She really hoped Fiona or Cassius would get it.

"The champion for Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, "is Cedric Diggory!"

There was a great uproar as Cedric stood up from the Hufflepuff table. Everyone else soon joined in for the Hogwarts champions, even Pansy and her lot. A Hufflepuff was better than a Gryffindor in most of their minds. Sophie snuck a glance down the table, seeing Cassius and Fiona join in the applause for their fellow sixth year. They looked a little disheartened at not being picked, but at least they weren't making a scene like the Beauxbatons girl, she thought with a small amount of pride.

Cedric walked along the staff table, disappearing into the trophy room with his fellow champions.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily once the cheers had died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"

Suddenly, the goblet of fire turned red again. Dumbledore immediately stopped talking and the entire room was staring at the goblet, confused. Another piece of parchment was shot into the air and Dumbledore quickly snatched it.

"Harry Potter."

A silent hush fell over the room, as everyone turned to look at her brother. Angry murmuring broke out, and snatches of conversation drifted as people wondered not only how Harry had managed to trick Dumbledore's age line, but how he had just become a _fourth_ champion. Sophie sat in her seat, avoiding eye contact with the rest of the Slytherins. She rested her chin on top of her fist, a frown on her face and annoyance bubbling over like an overcooked cauldron.

Of course they couldn't have a quiet, normal year. Her brother was Harry bloody Potter after all.


	18. Problem Child

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

A/N: Sorry this has taken forever. Writer's Block and my real life getting busier has meant this went on the backburner for a while. I still intend to finish this, it's just going to be slow going. Cheers!

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><p><strong>Chapter 18: Problem Child<strong>

By the next morning, Sophie was ready to strangle her brother. She hadn't seen him since he disappeared into the trophy room with the professors and the other champions. The professors had quickly dismissed the students, ushering them back to their common rooms in the case of Hogwarts students, or sleeping quarters in the case of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. There had been a loud uproar and a great deal of protest once Harry left the Great Hall. The Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students were furious that Hogwarts was somehow allowed two champions while the Hogwarts students were divided. A great number were suspicious that Harry somehow managed to trick the age line, and many Hufflepuffs were upset that a Gryffindor was eclipsing a Hufflepuff's moment of glory.

The Slytherins didn't seem to care too much about Cedric Diggory, it was more the identity of the fourth champion that irked them.

"Merlin this is too much!" Pansy had shrieked. "Precious Potter got himself entered into the tournament after all. I bet Dumbledore had something to do with it. It was his age line after all!"

A group of Slytherins had gathered around Draco, who seemed to be their unofficial leader when it came to complaining about Harry or the Gryffindors. He wasn't saying much, just standing there with a large smirk on his face as people complained. People like Pansy tossed out nasty comments and then immediately looked to Draco for his approval and it almost became a competition to make the most ridiculous accusation. So far, Pansy's was the one that was most favourable and people kept jumping in to give all sorts of 'proof' that Dumbledore favoured Harry and would manipulate the tournament just to include him. Sophie tried to slip off to her dormitory unseen, but of course she was somehow roped into the common room conversation.

"Hey, Little Potter, how do you think he did it?" Blaise Zabini had eagerly asked. It seemed that her presence suddenly upstaged Pansy's suggestion. Sophie knew that if she said anything in this moment, Slytherin would probably take it as the honest-to-Merlin truth. If she said her brother was in cohorts with Dumbledore, they'd go absolutely ballistic.

They already believed what she sometimes wondered herself; if Harry was truly doing these things for attention. Was it really possible that one teenager could keep getting himself into these situations?

"How would I know?" She challenged.

"He's doing it for the attention, isn't he?" Pansy pressed, her dark blue eyes were glinting as she regarded Sophie.

Astoria made a sound as if to speak, but Sophie cut her off. She had no idea if her friend would defend her brother or not, but she didn't really care.

"Probably," she bristled, "he can't seem to go five minutes without it."

Draco and his friends thought that was hilarious, and hoots of laughter followed her as she fled from the common room. She went to bed as quickly as possible, drawing the silver curtains around her four-poster bed shut and trying to ignore the silent whispers of her friends.

Why couldn't Harry just be _normal_ for once? Why couldn't her brother just go one year without making a spectacle out of himself? He had to go and get himself entered into that stupid tournament and now it was all anyone wanted to talk about. She knew her dad and Sirius were only going to flip once they heard, and then spend the year worrying about him like they always did. She remembered his first two years at Hogwarts. Every few months they'd get a letter from Professor McGonagall and James would nearly have a heart attack. It was amusing at first, but it quickly got old that Harry was all anyone would ever talk about.

The next morning, she decided she wasn't going to approach the Gryffindor table, but then she saw him sitting there, being congratulated by all the Gryffindors. Something inside her snapped and in that moment she marched over without much thought to what she would actually say once she got there. Harry took one look at her, and his expression turned stormy. Well, he wasn't the only Potter with a temper.

"How did you do it?" She demanded. Harry was sitting down so she was able to stare him down.

"You really think I managed to trick Dumbledore's age line and put my name in that thing?" Harry asked, his voice rising.

"I don't know what to think! Everyone's saying - "

"Everyone? You mean your little Slytherin friends, I heard you've become really close to Parkinson - "

"Everyone, Harry, as in literally _everyone_! The Ravenclaws, the Hufflepuffs, even the bloody Gryffindors so don't you dare throw that in my face!" She yelled back, annoyed at the nerve of him! She didn't want to be friends with Pansy, but it was hard to live in the same house and not see her on a regular basis. They might as well get along.

"Can't stand the thought of someone else in the spotlight for once, could you? You just had to upstage it by being the _fourth_ champion!"

Sophie stormed off in a huff and avoided Harry for the rest of the week. Not that she had ever done it before, but it was surprisingly easy. Avoiding Harry meant avoiding the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and avoiding the library where he was spending more time with Hermione. Apparently Ron thought the same thing she did and was avoiding him too. That validated her, knowing that even Ron felt the same way. Avoiding her housemates was another story. The Slytherin common room would have been her usual retreat if she was avoiding Harry. Avoiding both at the same time really limited her options, and she had taken to hiding out on the grounds. Sometimes Astoria, Nephele and Kitty would join her. Thankfully they had stayed fairly neutral on the topic, although Sophie could tell that it took a considerable amount of restraint on Kitty's part.

In the evenings, she avoided the common room, choosing to stay in her dormitory doing homework or something. She'd come in before the common room filled just after curfew so she wouldn't be called over by Pansy. Draco had been dominating the conversation, loudly stating that he bet Harry was killed in the first task. People were starting to put galleons down on how long he'd last in the first task. The topic made her ill for as much as she was mad at Harry, he was still her brother.

"Hey Potter!" A voice called out one day when she was running late to Transfiguration.

Sophie froze as she found Draco alone in the common room. Never had he actually acknowledged her presence before. A little bubble of dread swelled up in her chest, wondering what on earth he wanted. She had deflated since her initial outburst and just wanted the year to end and the tournament to go away.

"I've made these for everyone in Slytherin." Draco told her, looking much too pleased with himself. He handed her a yellow badge with bold, black letters on it.

SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY -

THE _REAL _HOGWARTS CHAMPION!

The badge then swirled, the bright yellow turning to a neon green and the black letters rearranging themselves to say, _POTTER STINKS! _Sophie felt her face heat up, even as she reminded herself that he meant her brother and not her.

"Oh very funny," she said, rolling her eyes. "Did you get Crabbe to make them or did you think of that one up all by yourself?"

She tossed the badge back at him, turning on her heel and walking out of the common room. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest and she found herself surprised that she had just insulted Draco Malfoy's intelligence. Kitty was going to have a stroke when she found out.

Outside the dungeons, a witch with magenta robes was wondering around. Sophie knew she wasn't one of the Hogwarts professors and wondered if perhaps she was with the Beauxbatons or Drumstrang delegations. They had all stayed at Hogwarts, even after the champions had been picked and were staying the rest of the year as support.

"Hello?" Sophie greeted her, "Are you lost?"

"Oh no, love, just taking a little trip down memory lane," the woman smiled at her, "I'm here with the press to interview the champions for the _Daily Prophet_ and thought I'd stop by my old house. Are you enjoying the tournament so far? Two Hogwarts champions! Do you have one you're supporting?"

"Well, my brother's one of the champions so I'll be rooting for him," Sophie said. Even if she didn't feel like it at the moment, she knew it was what she was expected to say. James would be incredibly disappointed in her if she started telling people she hoped Harry lost and embarrassed himself in front of everyone.

"Are you? Sophie Potter then? Lovely! I was hoping to interview the family and friends of the champions, get a few nice quotes for the _Prophet_, if you have a moment?"

Sophie bit her lip, unsure of what to say. James and Sirius had shielded her and Harry from the press when they were younger. Although, with Harry being a champion she was sure all the families were being asked for comments. It wouldn't hurt to say something, she decided.

"Um, sure? Just who are you exactly?" If James had taught her anything, it was to be weary of strangers. Especially strangers interested in her brother.

"Rita Skeeter," the woman flashed a full white smile. She was already pulling a green quill and some parchment out of her crocodile handbag.

Sophie had heard of her, everyone in the wizarding world had. Rita Skeeter was one of the top reporters for the Daily Prophet. Her articles were highly controversial because she covered high-profile people like Minister Fudge or Professor Dumbledore.

"Now Sophie, love, you wouldn't mind if I used a Quick Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you without worrying about copying everything down."

The quill levitated in the air, poised over the parchment ready to capture everything Sophie said.

"That's fine."

"Lovely! Now, how do you feel about your brother entering the tournament? Excited? Worried? Angry?"

"Worried, I'd guess, I mean he's much younger than all the other champions and there was an age line for a reason." Sophie was distracted by the quill, watching the quill frantically scratching across the parchment. The parchment was hovering above her so she couldn't see what it was writing.

"Ignore the quill, Sophie dear," Rita said, "do you have any idea how your brother could have tricked the age line? Has he said anything?"

"I haven't given it much thought," Sophie said, feeling a little guilty. She had just jumped on board with everyone thinking that Harry had entered himself. She hadn't even let him explain himself. "Harry's always getting himself into trouble."

James had made a trip to the school the day after Harry had been selected as champion. He hadn't stayed for long, just enough to check on Harry and yell at Dumbledore. Sophie would have paid a good sum of galleons to see how that went down. She could only imagine her dad yelling until he was purple in the face that Dumbledore had failed to protect Harry yet again, while Dumbledore sat calmly and let him rage, offering him a cup of tea when he was done.

It had happened in their kitchen once before; at the end of Harry's first year.

"Troubled? So does your brother act out for attention? Do you think this is just his latest stun?"

"It's not quite like that, um," Sophie tried to correct herself. Harry wasn't troubled he just got himself into really bizarre situations. "It's hard to explain."

"What is it like?"

"I - um - I should really be getting to class," Sophie said, suddenly uncomfortable where the questioning was going. She didn't want to get what had happened at the end of last year and she was certain what Harry had done at the end of his first and second year was not to be told to reporters. Her dad would kill her.

"Of course! And I best get to the weighing ceremony! I need to speak with the champions," Rita said with a rather vicious looking smile. Sophie couldn't shake the feeling that she had just been played. It was only when the Daily Prophet arrived the next morning with an article about her brother that she realized just how.

_Of course, this isn't the first time Harry has acted out for attention. Fellow students and teachers have voiced concerns that this is another attempt for Harry. Rumours have circulated the school for years, with Harry Potter mysteriously ending up in the hospital wing by the end of each year. When asked, his sister Sophia only had this to say:_

_"Harry's always getting himself into trouble. Of course I'm worried about him being in the tournament. He's so much younger and less experienced than the others. There was an age line for a reason."_

Kitty frowned when she saw the article, "Next time you should spell out your name so she gets it right. She uses one of those quick quotes quills and it doesn't always catch names."

"Kitty that's - " Astoria groaned.

"Entirely not the point?" Nephele interjected. "I think the quill misquotes more than names."

"I didn't say any of that," Sophie said, shocked at the way Rita had worded the article. Technically she had said it, she just hadn't meant it the way it came across. "Well, I _did_, but not like that."

By the time Sophie returned to the Slytherin common room, she wanted to curl up into her bed and die of shame. Everyone had been repeating the article all day and Pansy had decided that 'troubled' meant 'touched in the head'. People were quoting it every where she went. Harry didn't even look at her. Even worse, she had received a letter from her dad. Of course he didn't believe she would say anything bad about her brother.

_I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way, Rita twists everything in her articles. Next time tell her 'no comment'. I've written Harry too, he'll understand. _

The final straw though, was a small box of Draco's _Potter Stinks! _badges left out on the table. Something about them just set her off at the end of a really long, awful day. She grabbed them and marched down the tunnel to her dormitory.

xXxXx

The next morning Sophie went down to breakfast carrying the box of badges she had stolen from Draco. She had been up late transfiguring them and had gotten less than three hours sleep, but she had been pleased with the final result.

Harry looked weary as she approached, but she offered him a small smile that she hoped he recognized as some sort of truce.

"I think you'll like these," she quietly said, handing one over. Harry took it, looking at the crimson red badge that said in golden letters;

SUPPORT HARRY POTTER -

THE _OTHER_ HOGWARTS CHAMPION!

It then turned to a black background with a red lightning bolt on it.


	19. Nephele's Date

**My Brother's Keeper**

by ChatterChick

Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.

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><p><strong>Chapter 19: Nephele's Date <strong>

"Oi, Sophie!"

She felt confused as Ron approached her in the corridors. They were friendly towards each other most of the time, but they rarely interacted without Harry's presence. She signalled for Astoria and Kitty to go ahead without her, curious what Ron wanted.

"I was wondering, well, you're a girl and I needed a favour."

She narrowed her eyes, wondering where this was going. Did he need advice? Or did he expect her to find him a date? She had had to interfere when Harry failed to find a date for the Yule Ball. She had felt pleased with herself when she managed to pair him off with Mallory McKinnon, a fifth year Gryffindor. But Harry was her brother, and she sort of owed him for being a brat earlier in the year. Plus he would look incredibly stupid being one of the champions and not having a date.

Ron, however, was going to have to be super nice to her.

"I've managed to piss off all the other girls I know," Ron told her, "and you wouldn't be able to go anyway. So what do you say?"

"Wait a minute - is this your, _really awful_, way to ask me to be your date for the Yule Ball?" Sophie asked. That was the only thing she could come up with in that muddled statement.

"I've already asked Harry, he doesn't mind."

Yes, she drily thought, because Harry was her keeper and could decide who was an acceptable date for her. Part of her wished one of the older Slytherins asked her first just so she could make a point. Unfortunately none of them were interested in a second year, so Ron did have a point. She wouldn't be able to go if she didn't go with him.

"Fine," she said after a while, making it seem like she had to stop and think about it. In that moment she was rather excited. The students below fourth year were annoyed that their school was holding a ball and they weren't even invited. It wasn't like it was something they could look forward to in upper years either since Hogwarts was only doing it for the Triwizard Tournament. "I'll have to see if I can get dress robes this late, but I might be able to go."

Ron thanked her and walked away, looking relieved that he had a date secured. Even if it was just his best mate's kid sister.

"What did Weasley want?" Kitty asked later when Sophie rejoined them in the second year girls' dormitory.

"Ron's dateless and wants me to go to the Yule Ball with him so he doesn't look like a complete loser." She was starting to regret her decision a little, realizing how awkward it would be to go as Ron's date with all the fourth year Gryffindors. She was also a little embarrassed to be going with Ron Weasley of all people. He wasn't popular among the Slytherins, even less so than Harry. She knew she'd be teased and defending her decision constantly. "I'm wishing I didn't agree to it now, it's not like I'm going to know anyone else."

"I'm going," Nephele said in a tiny voice.

"What?!" Astoria and Sophie immediately rounded on their friend.

"With who?" Kitty demanded.

Nephele looked as if she swallowed something unpleasant, "It's going to get out eventually, so I'd rather you hear it from me."

There was complete silence as they waited for Nephele to explain, it was almost as if they were scared to breathe. Sophie knew that if any of them interrupted Nephele, she would likely clam up. She was not one to share her secrets.

"It's not quite an arrangement," she explained, "the Ministry made those illegal back in the seventies, but my mother's hoping that I marry a pure-blood from a respectable family and she's trying to set me up with - well, there's not exactly a lot of _options_ for me, with my father being a - _you know._"

Nephele's ramblings were oddly uncharacteristic of her, and Sophie wondered just who her mother had set her up with. She shared a nervous exchange with Astoria. Kitty tilted her head in confusion like she wasn't sure what the big deal was. Sophie was struck with the thought that to her friends, the idea of their parents setting them up with a partner was probably normal. She couldn't imagine her dad or Sirius picking out a husband for her. That would be a complete disaster.

"Nephele?" Astoria asked.

"My mother's hoping to marry me off to Gregory Goyle. His family's quite pleased about it."

Nephele was not prettiest witch of their year, but she was pretty in her own way. She was tall with a slender frame and platinum blonde hair. Her features could be considered delicate, if it wasn't for her striking grey eyes that hinted at that there was nothing delicate about her. The pure-bloods would consider her the prefect result of generations of selective breeding. The last of the Rosier line. Sophie could understand why the Goyles would be eager to have her.

Poor Nephele though. Sophie knew her friend could do loads better than _Goyle_.

"Considering Greg has the intelligence of a flobber worm, they're probably hoping between the two of us our children will be average." Nephele made a face in disgust. "The Goyles can't afford to be any stupider, or they'll just be apes with wands."

"The Goyles are nice," Astoria said, filling the silence. "Greg seems to be the quiet type. Daphne says he's kind too, but most people only associate him with Draco."

There wasn't a lot of good things one could say about Gregory Goyle. He tended to follow Draco Malfoy around and act like a personal bodyguard. He was loyal, Sophie supposed. That was a nice thing she could say.

Nephele just shrugged her shoulders, although she still looked forlorn at having to be Goyle's date. "I guess. I'm just doing this to make my mother happy. Once I'm seventeen I'll inherit my father's estate and my mother won't be able to tell me what to do any more."

xXxXx

Ron's last minute invitation to the Yule Ball didn't leave Sophie much time to find dress robes. Most of the older girls had been planning this since October and had their dresses ordered, altered and delivered long before Sophie even knew she would be going. Luckily she was about the same size as Kitty, who owl'd home for her mother to send her dress robes. Sophie picked a nice sky blue set and hoped Ron was able to match them or at least not clash too horribly. He didn't even ask what colour her robes would be and that worried her.

It turns out that clashing was the least of Sophie's problems.

She turned her nose up at the hideous maroon robes Ron was wearing. It looked like the sort of thing some fussy old witch like Augusta Longbottom would have considered fashionable, back in the forties. It looked like it had seen better days. The neck and sleeves were starting to fray and there was a patch on one of the pockets.

Harry gave a quick shake of his head, probably catching the look of horror in her eyes, so Sophie decided against saying anything. Ron already looked like he was in a foul mood. Sophie pursued her lips. Even if he couldn't avoid new robes, he was a fourth year wizard for Merlin's sake. He could have altered them. Even she had been able to transfigure her black ballet flats into a pair of sparkly silver kitten heels for the evening.

"Hi Ron," she said.

"Oh hello," Ron said. He gave her a brief nod, but didn't say anything. "Have either of you seen Hermione yet?"

Sophie shook her head, feeling her curls bounce as she did so. She scanned the crowd forming in the entrance way to the Great Hall. She spotted Nephele, who had left the common room with her, but had joined the group of fourth year Slytherins in the entrance to the Great Hall. Nephele was wearing moss green dress robes with silver accents, looking like a true Slytherin witch. Pansy was wearing these frilly, pale pink robes and Daphne had these pretty sapphire blue lace robes that made her blue eyes stand out. Of course, all their dates were dressed in smart dress robes that even colour coordinated with their date. Most of the girls were given corsages for their wrists, but Sophie didn't hold her breath that Ron had conjured her one.

They were joined by Harry's date, Mallory. Sophie was pleased to note that her brother had more manners than his friend and told Mallory she looked pretty. Unfortunately, the pair had to go with the other champions and their dates, leaving Sophie stuck with Ron. She looked around, wondering if Hermione would be joining them. Hermione would make for much better company than Ron. When Sophie finally spotted her, she gasped.

"Oh my gosh, is that _Hermione_?"

"No," Ron said in disbelief, "that's not - "

It was Hermione. She was wearing periwinkle blue dress robes and she had somehow managed to tame her impossibly bushy hair into an elegant knot. More surprisingly, she was on the arm of the Drumstang champion.

Ron spent the entire dinner complaining that Hermione had gone to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum. They had been joined by the rest of the Gryffindor fourth years and their dates, Seamus and Lavender, Dean and Parvati, and Neville and Ginny. Sophie hadn't interacted with Lavender and Parvati much before, but found that she liked the older girls' company. They talked about fashion and dress robes and who asked who to the Yule Ball. It was much more enjoyable than the heated discussion Seamus, Dean and Ginny were having about Quidditch. Or the whinging Ron was doing to poor Neville.

"He's the enemy!" Ron sputtered, "he's competing against Harry and she's gone and - "

After dinner, the champions and their dates opened the dance and soon the floor was crowded. Everyone else eagerly left the table to go dance with their partners. Every except Ron, who seemed determine to sulk the entire evening. Not that Sophie was helping the situation by any means. Her date's foul mood was getting to her and she was just as miserable.

"Doesn't Hermione look pretty?" Sophie asked. She couldn't help but rub it in a little. When her comment didn't even warrant a grunt, she decided to try something else. Not even trying to be subtle, she said, "Well, I'm going to look for Nephele. I think I saw her over with Draco."

With that, she got up and left, giving her brother's best mate one last dirty look. She joined Nephele who was standing with the cluster of fourth year Slytherins. Nephele had a rather bored looking expression on her face while the rest of them talked amongst themselves.

"Thank Merlin," Nephele mumbled loud enough for only Sophie to hear.

Draco and Pansy appeared to be the centre of attention within the group, although Daphne and Theo would whisper into each others' ears and snicker whenever Pansy said something particularly ridiculous. Their group was completed with fellow couple, Blaise Zabini and Portia Dolohov. Vincent Crabbe had even managed to find a date, a bewildered third year girl named Annie Runcorn. Nephele was standing next to her date, although she wasn't really paying attention to him. Gregory Goyle kept looking at her though, clearly pleased at his good luck.

"Potter," Draco greeted. "Have you decided to leave Weasley for better company?"

"Everyone's got to start somewhere, even if it is the bottom," cried Pansy, as if she made some great joke.

Sophie's face reddened as the rest of the group laughed. Daphne shrugged apologetically, but Sophie knew that the Weasleys were considered wizarding trash amongst most of the population. They picked on Ron for a few more moments, starting with his hand-me-down maroon dress robes and then the fact that he was left sitting by himself at the table. Then Blaise and Portia excused themselves to dance. Not to be outdone, Pansy immediately started badgering Draco for one as well.

Daphne held Theo back for a moment to speak with Sophie and Nephele.

"Sophie, did Weasley dance with you at all?" Daphne asked with a sniff of disapproval.

Sophie flushed as she shook her head. As much as she tried to defend her brother and his friends, sometimes they really didn't help themselves. Still, she knew not to expect much when she accepted Ron's invitation to the ball. At least she was able to come.

Daphne looked scandalized at Sophie's response. She immediately turned to her boyfriend. "Theo, you must take Sophie dancing! She can't come to a Yule Ball and not have a dance. Honestly, leave it to a _Weasley_ – "

"That's really not necessary," Sophie protested.

Daphne was impossible to argue with and Theo graciously offered his hand. "Daphne's right, and it would be my pleasure."

Sophie recognized this as a pity dance, but decided not to make a big deal out of it. It was still a little awkward dancing with Daphne's boyfriend, a wizard she barely knew. Theo was the quiet type, he didn't say much as he skilfully twirled her around the dance floor. Unlike some of the other couples, who were clumsy and trying not to stomp on each other's feet, Theo was quite graceful and Sophie found herself wishing she could have come with him as a date instead.

Theodore tilted his head off to the side. "Your date's watching. He doesn't look happy."

"Really? Good," Sophie said, giving her best smile and a little wave to Ron. Dancing with Theo was much more enjoyable when she thought of it as revenge on Ron for being a prat. Let him gripe that she was dancing with the enemy too. They even stayed for a second song.

Theo returned her to the sidelines where Daphne and Nephele were deep in conversation.

"Aren't you going to dance?" Sophie asked. "You don't have to stay here for my sake."

"Well, we tried earlier, but Greg has all the grace of a hippopotamus in a leg-lock jinx." Nephele rolled her eyes. "Besides, you're much better company."

Sophie wished their year would have been old enough to attend the Yule Ball. It would have been much more pleasant had Astoria and Kitty come. While Sophie usually enjoyed Nephele's company, she wasn't exactly the dancing or partying type.

"Where is Goyle anyway?"

Nephele grunted.

"He's really rubbing off on you," Sophie giggled. She hastily stopped at the glare Nephele gave her. Greg appeared, carefully carrying three cups of punch.

"Thanks," Sophie said, accepting the cup he handed her. They chatted at the sidelines for a while. Eventually the Weird Sisters broke out into a lively tune and the couples formed groups rather than pairs on the dance floor. Sophie itched to go out there and join them.

"I wonder what Ron would consider worse? His best friend dancing with Viktor Krum or his date dancing with Draco Malfoy?" Sophie asked, trying to keep a straight face.

She could still see Ron sitting at the table, this time Harry had joined him. Neither of the pair looked happy to be there.

"I think Slytherin's starting to rub off on you, Sophie Potter," Nephele laughed. She threw her cup in the rubbish bin and linked her arm through Sophie's. "Let's go find out!"


End file.
